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Caroline Garcia made her way into the semi-finals of the Abierto GNP Seguros on Friday. The French top seed defeated seventh seed Mayar Sherif 6-0, 6-4 in their quarter-finals in 65 minutes. Sherif had slightly better first-serve margin as compared to Garcia.
She put 72% of her first-serves in to Garcia’s 69%. However, Garcia won 86% of her first-serve points to Sherif’s 55%. Garcia also won 61% of her second-serve points and 57% of points on return on her opponent’s second serve.
Garcia didn’t face any break point across the match and converted four of six break points on Sherif’s serve.
Abierto GNP Seguros: Donna Vekic and Lin Zhu's appointment
For a spot in the final, Garcia will now play Elise Mertens.
The fourth seed also dropped four games en route to the semi-final, beating eighth seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 19 minutes. Mertens hit seven aces in the match and won 84% of her first-serve points. She also won 72% points on return on the Italian’s second serve while winning 52% of her second-serve points.
The Belgian also saved all five break points she faced while converting four break points. Garcia holds a 4-2 lead against Mertens with her latest win coming at the 2022 Cincinnati Open. Third seed Donna Vekic got past Mertens’ fellow Belgian, Ysaline Bonaventure in what was a tough quarter-final match.
The Croatian needed two hours and 13 minutes to score a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5) win. Vekic saved two of four break points she faced while converting three break points herself. She finished the match with eight more points to Bonaventure’s 102.
Lin Zhu will be Donna Vekic’s opponent in the semi-final of the Abierto GNP Seguros. The fifth seed from China beat Caroline Dolehide 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 16 minutes. This is the second semi-final of Zhu’s season and career, coming after the Thailand Open in February.