Canadian players Fernandez and Mboko will meet in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open
Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and Victoria Mboko will face off in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open after advancing to the quarter-finals on Friday.
Fernandez, the second seed in Hong Kong, defeated Romania’s seventh seed Sorana Cistea 6-4, 6-4 to advance.
Third seed Mboko advanced after sixth seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia withdrew trailing 1-6, 1-3.
Fernandez saved four of five break points in her second win over the Romanian veteran this month while breaking Cirstea on three of nine break chances.
The 23-year-old from Laval, Que., defeated Cirstea in the semifinals of the Japan Women’s Open to capture her fifth career title.
Mboko, a 19-year-old from Toronto, dominated the quarterfinals, but Kalinskaya bowed out after 48 minutes. She blasted nine aces without any interference while scoring 61.8% of the total points.
Mboko appears to be back in form after a dip in form after winning her first WTA title at the National Bank Open in Montreal. She reached the quarterfinals at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last week after losing four straight games following a breakthrough victory.
This will be the first meeting between the Fernandez family and Mboko.
Fifth seed Maya United of Australia will face Cristina Busa of Spain in the other semi-final of the WTA 250 event.
