3 minute read
Top seed Simon Halep and teenage sensation Emma Raducana both reached the last eight in the Transylvanian Open.
Emma Raducanu has beaten Ana Bogdan to reach the quarter-finals at the Transylvania Open.
The 18-year-old US Open winner gained an early break in each set on Thursday. Though Bogdan broke back in the second set Raducanu broke again before taking the tie 6-3 6-4.
The British No.1 will next face another teenager, 19-year-old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk who defeated Mona Barthel, of Germany, 6-4 6-4.
The victory means Raducanu has to delay a visit to see her grandmother.
Raducanu's father, who is travelling with his daughter this week, is Romanian and the plan is to go and visit his family in Bucharest after her run at the tournament ends.
Romania has taken Raducanu to its heart this week, and she said in her on-court interview: "It was so good to play a Romanian here.
"There are no fans, unfortunately, but there are all the volunteers who make this tournament possible and I loved playing with some noise again.
"I'm learning from every match I play and I'm loving my time at this tournament."
No.1 seed Simona Halep also progressed, despatching Russia's Varvara Gracheva 6-4 6-2. She faces fellow Romanian Jacqueline Christian, who knocked out Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic on Wednesday.
Anett Kontaveit, the No.2 seed, and last week's Kremlin Cup winner, beat Alison van Uytvanck 6-3 6-4 to line up a quarter-final with Anhelina Kalinina.
The other last-eight pairing pits Sweden's Rebecca Peterson, who beat Irina Bara 6-0 6-3, against Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko.