By Chris Oddo | Thursday September 24, 2015
22-year-old Czech Denisa Allertova stunned Simona Halep to reach the Guangzhou semifinals.
22-year-old Denisa Allertova notched the biggest win of her career on Thursday night in Guangzhou, taking down top-seeded World No. 2 Simona Halep, 6-4, 6-3, for her second consecutive Top-10 win.
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The rising Czech broke serve twice in each set and reeled off six of seven games from the end of set one to take a commanding 6-4, 5-1 lead.
She then closed out the match with a backhand down-the-line to close the match in one hour and 12 minutes.
"I don't know, I was just trying to focus every point, not looking who's on the other side, just focusing on myself and playing my tennis,” the World No. 74 told WTATennis.com. “I was fighting every point and it worked. I'm just so happy now."
Allertova has won six consecutive sets in Guangzhou, and will face 3rd-seeded Sara Errani in the semifinals. The Italian bulldozed China’s Saisai Zheng, 6-1, 6-0.
The semifinal in the lower half will feature fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic and unseeded Yanina Wickmayer. Wickmayer has won eight consecutive matches since the US Open, taking the Tokyo title last week before winning three more in Guangzhou. Jankovic defeated fifth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2, 7-5, while Wickmayer took down Monica Niculescu, 6-2, 6-2.