Nottingham Open: Seeds Maria Sakkari, Shua Zhang, Ajla Tomljanovic exit in last-8

Three of the four quarter-final matches at the Nottingham Open on Friday featured upsets, including that of the tournament top seed, Maria Sakkari. Beatriz Haddad Maia seeded seventh ousted the Greek, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 36 minutes.

The Brazilian struggled to win points off her second serves ā€“ 29% to Sakkariā€™s 41% but did well to save seven of the nine break points she faced while converting three break points on her opponentā€™s serve. In terms of first-serve points won, not much separated the two with Haddad Maia winning almost 77% of her first-serve points to Sakkariā€™s near-75%.

In the semi-final, Haddad Maia will take on Tereza Martincova. The Czech posted an upset of her own, against fourth seed Shuai Zhang. Martincova needed 72 minutes to complete a 6-3, 6-2 win against the Chinese.

Nottingham Open: Alison Riske reaps rewards

The 60th-ranked Martincova won 73% of her first-serve points and 64% of her second-serve points. Zhang won 69% of her first-serve points and only 29% of her second-serve points. She saved the only break point she faced during the proceedings while converting four of the six break points she had on Zhangā€™s serve.

Alison Riske, the sixth seed, took out Harriet Dart, the last remaining Briton in the British event. The American came from a set down to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in two hours and 26 minutes. Riske won almost 67% of her first-serve points to Dartā€™s 55%. Both players won around 43% of their respective second-serve points. Riske saved five of the eight break points she faced while converting seven of the 16 break points she had on Dartā€™s serve.

Looking to reach the Nottingham Open final, Riske will play Viktorija Golubic in the semi-finals. The Swiss upset fifth seed Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-2, 7-6(6) in their quarter-final match in an hour and 32 minutes.Ā