Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova is into the Hobart International semifinals, securing her spot with a 7-5 7-5 victory over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu tonight.
The No.77-ranked Schmiedlova found herself down breaks in both sets, but recovered to close out victory in one hour, 47 minutes.
“I was just trying to play my game, serve better and focus on every point,” Schmiedlova said of her mindset late in each set.
“I had nothing to lose because I know she’s a great player, so I just played without big expectations. I wasn’t thinking about the score. I’m happy that it worked.”
What a shot!#HobartTennis is picture perfect, @akschmiedlova on fire in the quarterfinals.#TassieStyle pic.twitter.com/h0udW2J0cV
— Hobart International (@HobartTennis) January 10, 2019
Schmiedlova’s semifinal run follows some testing years – making the result even more meaningful.
After reaching a career-high ranking of No.26 in October 2015, Schmiedlova’s rise stalled. Her confidence dropped and her ranking followed, falling outside the top 250.
The 24-year-old returned to the top 100 in April last year, propelled by a title-winning run in Bogota. Her semifinal run here in Hobart is now set to boost her ranking even higher.
“It’s amazing. I’ve really had my ups and downs on the WTA Tour, so every match that I win I’m really excited about it and thankful because for two years I didn’t play WTA tournaments,” she said.
“I’m very happy that I’m back and playing good.”
Her reward is a semifinal meeting with former world No.7 Belinda Bencic tomorrow. The Swiss star earned her place in the final four with a straight-sets win over Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska.
READ: Bencic wins battle of young stars
The semifinals are played during a twilight session, with tickets still available.