Garcia battles back to secure semi-final spot in Strasbourg

Caroline Garcia booked her spot in the semi-finals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg after battling back to defeat Ukrainian qualifier Marta Kostyuk.

Fourth seed Garcia seemed to be on the verge of an upset loss as she trailed by a set and a break to her 16-year-old opponent.

But the Frenchwoman rallied to record a 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory in a little under two hours against her highly-rated teenage opponent.

Garcia, the 2016 champion, next takes on compatriot Chloe Paquet, who is the only unseeded player left in the draw after she claimed a 6-3 7-6 (1) win over Russia’s Daria Gavrilova, a finalist in 2017.

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka overcame a second set blip before seeing off Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 6-1 3-6 6-2.

Up next for the Belorussian is sixth seed Dayana Yastremska after the Ukrainian brushed aside the challenge of France’s Fiona Ferro 6-1 6-3.

In the Nuremberg Cup, top seed Yulia Putintseva was forced to dig deep to end the challenge of Anna-Lena Friedsam.

The German wild card, who is ranked 523rd in the world after a lay-off for shoulder surgery, defeated Andrea Petkovic en route to the quarter-finals, where she pushed her Kazakh opponent all the way.

Putintseva squeaked through 7-5 6-7 (5) 7-6 (2) in a titanic encounter that spanned three hours and 21 minutes to book a semi-final showdown against Sorana Cirstea.

The Romanian came from a set down Nina Stojanovic to beat the Serbian 4-6 6-4 6-2.

Russian second seed Katerina Siniakova showed plenty of spirit to come from behind to defeat Madison Brengle of the United States 1-6 6-4 6-0.

Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek completed the semi-final line-up as she edged out Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 2-6 6-3.