Bianca Andreescu reached her first semifinal in over a year and the only one of her career on grass, beating top seed Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday at the Bad Homburg Open.
The Canadian, a former US Open champion, broke Kasatkina’s serve five times in an outstanding performance.
Andreescu hadn’t been this close to winning a title since taking time off to recover and work on his mental health. He missed the Australian Open before returning to the circuit in April.
The Canadian’s last title was her shock victory at the US Open in 2019 and her last final appearance was in April 2021 in Miami. During this period, Andreescu cultivated other interests off the court, making music and writing a children’s book inspired by his childhood in tennis.
The 22-year-old Andreescu will face Simona Halep, who will play in her second consecutive semi-final after quickly eliminating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-1.
The Romanian was in the top four last week in Birmingham.
Meanwhile defending champion Angelique Kerber lost for the first time in Bad Homburg, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 to Alize Cornet.
Cornet’s semi-final opponent is fellow Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, who beat local Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 7-6(7), who was playing her first quarter-final match since 2018 after years of injuries. Knee.
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