China's Zhang Shuai out of Western & Southern Open

BEIJING -- China's veteran Zhang Shuai failed to reach the semifinals at the Western & Southern Open as she lost to No 6 seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 7-6 (1) on Friday in Cincinnati.

Zhang was leading 5-4 in the second set, but was leveled at 6-6 and lost seven straight points after winning the first in the tiebreak. After this win, Sabalenka has won four straight matches against Zhang.

"It was a tough match that she played unbelievable tennis," said Sabalenka.

"I'm super happy that, even if my serve didn't work well today in the second set, I was able to stay focused in return games."

Sabalenka from Belarus will now meet France's Caroline Garcia, who knocked out Jessica Pegula of the United States 6-1, 7-5.

The other semifinal will pit together American Madison Keys and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.