By Erik Gudris | Friday, July 18, 2014

 

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki battled her way into the Istanbul Cup semifinals. 16-year-old Ana Konjuh earned another milestone win in her young career.

Photo Credit: Getty

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki once again found herself in a three set battle against a familiar foe at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup in Istanbul, Turkey.

ATP: 17-Year-Old Zverev Into Hamburg Semis

The former World No. 1 faced off against No. 8 seed Karolina Pliskova in their quarterfinal on Friday. With their last two meetings having gone the distance in terms of sets, another three set tussle was expected.

Both lived up to that even after Wozniacki rolled through the opening set 6-1. Pliskova rebounded and claimed the second set forcing a decider. Yet it was Wozniacki who prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

"I'm happy with the way I've been serving this week and it definitely helped me out there today. Karolina is a tough opponent and she always gives me a lot of trouble," Wozniacki said later. "I knew it was not going to be easy."

Next up for Wozniacki is France's Kristina Mladenovic. The Frenchwoman outlasted Francesca Schiavone in over two hours and 23 minutes 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Konjuh Conjures Up Another Milestone Win

16-year-old Ana Konjuh of Croatia continued her impressive run out of qualifying this week in Istanbul. But she too was forced into three sets in her quarterfinal versus Elina Svitolina.

Konjuh battled back from a deficit and won the first set 6-4. Despite dropping the second set, Konjuh eventually secured the 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 victory.

The Croatian teenager is now the youngest player to reach a WTA semifinal since Donna Vekic at Tashkent back in 2012.

No. 2 seed Roberta Vinci awaits Konjuh in the final four. Vinci earlier dispatched No. 6 seed Kurumi Nara 6-0, 6-2.