(Photo credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports)
Belgium's Greet Minnen and Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva pulled off upsets in the quarterfinals of the Guangzhou Open on Thursday in China.
The unseeded Putintseva eliminated third seed Tatjana Maria of Germany 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-0. Putintseva converted six of 12 break points and saved nine of 11, overcoming Maria's 6-1 edge in aces.
Minnen, the seventh seed, ousted fourth seed Lucia Bronzetti of Italy 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-1.
Top seed Magda Linette of Poland avoided the upset in defeating fifth seed Rebeka Masarova of Spain 7-5, 7-6 (6).
In the other quarterfinal between unseeded players, China's Xiyu Wang needed three sets to get past Slovakian Viktoria Hruncakova 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Minnen faces Wang in one semifinal Friday, while Linette plays Putintseva.
--Field Level Media