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Ons Jabeur will compete in the quarter-final in Tianjin following a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over the young Chinese Xiyu Wang in an hour and 15 minutes. The Tunisian fended off five out of six break chances and her rival was unable to produce similar numbers behind the initial shot and prolong the action, dropping almost half of the points in her games and getting broken four times from seven opportunities offered to Ons.
The more experienced player raced into a 4-1 lead, allowing Wang to pull one break back in the sixth game before closing the set with a hold at love at 5-4. Xiyu held at love twice in the second set but also got broken twice in games one and five to propel Ons into the last eight.
The 6th seed Yulia Putintseva took down the Aussie veteran Samatha Stosur 6-1, 6-2 in 61 minutes, standing strong on serve after landing 84% of the first serve in and ousting the opponent on the return as well with four breaks from seven chances, enough to keep her in front all the time.
The Kazakh player raced into a 5-1 lead in the first set, saving a couple of break points in the seventh game to close the opener in style, hoping for more of the same in set number two. There, she rattled off the last five games from 2-1 down to march over the finish line and stay on the title course, facing Jabeur in the battle for the semis.
The defending champion Caroline Garcia will not win back-to-back titles in Tianjin, losing to Yafan Wang 6-4, 6-2 in 80 minutes. The Chinese played great behind the initial shot, getting broken only once and mounting the pressure on the other side of the net, creating 13 break chances and converting four to seal the deal in straight sets and move into the quarters.
Trailing 4-3 in the opener, Yafan grabbed eight of the next nine points to forge the advantage and carry it home to stay on the title course.