Linette knocks out top-seeded Kasatkina in Cleveland quarterfinals

MATCH POINT: Linette ousts the No. 1 seed

CLEVELAND (AP) — Sixth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland beat top-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia, 6-1, 6-2, on Thursday to advance to the Tennis in the Land semifinals.

No. 51 Linette used precision shot-making and converted 5 of 6 break points in the quarterfinal at Jacobs Pavilion, avenging a loss to No. 27 Kasatkina three weeks ago in San Jose, Calif.

"I'm glad I was able to take a step back and take a look at me after that match," Linette said. "After I lost the last time we played, I was ready to be on the other side today."

Linette decisively outplayed Kasatkina and outscored her 57-32, completing the upset with a cross-court winner from the left baseline. She will face Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania in the semis of the inaugural WTA 250 tournament.

No. 74 Begu beat No. 99 Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 6-4, holding her serve all nine times on her 31st birthday. Begu qualified for her first WTA hard-court semifinal since 2018 in Shenzhen, China.

"I was really aggressive, serving well and moving well," Begu said. "Hopefully, I can do it at least one more time here."

Second-seeded Anett Kontaveit outlasted Olympic doubles champion Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in the second-longest match of the tournament at 2 hours, 39 minutes.

No. 53 Siniakova trailed 4-3 in the second set before breaking No. 30 Kontaveit twice to force a third. Kontaveit won her second three-setter in Cleveland to move into the semifinals against seventh-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.

No. 43 Sorribes Tormo was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over ninth-seed Shuai Zhang of China, who is ranked No. 49. Linette, Begu and Sorribes Tormo have not lost a set in their first three matches.

"It's been amazing," Sorribes Tormo said. "I thought I played a very complete match because she played pretty good. I'm having a lot of fun."