Tennis: Giorgi knocks out top seed Sabalenka, two lucky losers in semis among men at Eastbourne

Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi knock out top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals of the Eastbourne grasscourt event on Thursday with a three-set victory as compatriot Lorenzo Sonego reached the last four of the men’s event.

Lucky losers Max Purcell and Kwon Soon-woo won quarterfinals, marking the first time in ATP Tour history that more than one man who lost in qualifying reached the semifinals of the same event.

A tight first set went to a tie-break before Giorgi recovered from a second-set whitewash to win 7-6 (7/5), 0-6, 6-4 in two hours and 18 minutes.

In the semi-finals, Giorgi will face Anett Kontaveit, who came back from the brink of defeat against qualifier Viktorija Golubic to win 2-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 after Golubic served for the match at 6-5 in the second set.

Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, booked her place in the last four after recovering from a woeful first set to beat Daria Kasatkina.

Ostapenko won just one game in a first set where her serve was broken four times but came back to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 . She will now play Elena Rybakina, who defeated Anastasija Sevastova 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/5).

Sonego’s encouraging season continued with straight sets victory over Alexander Bublik, the third seed winning 6-1, 7-5.

Now Sonego, who won the Sardegna Open on home soil in Cagliari in April, is just three wins away from equalling the 20 tour-level victories he recorded in 2019.

“I am really happy with the match because it is not easy playing against Bublik, because he is an amazing talent,” Sonego told atptour.com. “Especially in the second set, it was really tough, but I am happy with the match.

“I am full of energy because I like playing here. My serve is good for the grass court and I like playing in Eastbourne. There are a lot of Italian fans and it is good for me.”

Sonego will play Australian Max Purcell in the semi-finals after the world number 283 defeated Andreas Seppi 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.

South Korea’s Kwon Soo-woo reached his first ATP Tour semi-final with a 6-4, 7-5 success against Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka.