Babos, Schmiedlova nab upsets to reach Morocco semifinals
Second-seeded Timea Bacsinszky and No. 3 Flavia Pennetta of Italy lost in three-setters as the two highest seeds went out of the Grand Prix SAR quarterfinals on Thursday.
Bacsinszky was downed by seventh-seeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, and Pennetta fell to Timea Babos of Hungary 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.
Bacsinszky, who has had a breakout year, struggled throughout as she lost her serve seven times to drop to 25-4 overall. Schmiedlova next faces No. 4 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
In an error-strewn match featuring nine double faults and 12 service breaks, Babos broke Pennetta's serve seven times to set up a last-four clash with Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic, who eased past Laura Arruabarrena of Spain 6-4, 6-1.
Although Mladenovic dropped serve twice in the first set, she did not concede a break-point chance in the second set, in which she broke Arruabarrena's serve twice.
Also, Svitolina broke Karin Knapp's serve seven times in a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 win over the Italian.
