Two resurgent Americans, Danielle Collins and Sofia Kenin, both booked their spots in the semifinals at the Cymbiotika San Diego Open with statement wins in Friday's quarterfinals.
Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, was the first woman through to the final four thanks to a 6-2, 6-3 win over Anastasia Potapova, who had upset top seed Ons Jabeur in Wednesday's second round, before Collins, the 2022 Australian Open finalist, followed her through with an identical win over No. 2 seed Caroline Garcia.
Collins was 0-2 in quarterfinals this season but is through to the semifinals in San Diego for the second year in a row after her second Top 10 win of the season. Kenin, meanwhile, was a semifinalist in Hobart in January.
Cruising into the final four ⛵️@SofiaKenin defeats Potapova in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. #SanDiegoOpen pic.twitter.com/pNumAV16at
— wta (@WTA) September 14, 2023
Kenin cruises past Potapova
Kenin and Potapova played a marathon first two games, which both extended past deuce three times, in an opening quarterfinal that seemed set to be a long one.
But Kenin won both, which included her saving three break points in her first service game after she Potapova to start. The 2020 WTA Player of the Year soon built a 5-1 first-set lead. Potapova saved two set points in another multi-deuce game after she took a medical timeout, but Kenin wrapped up the opener on her fourth set point after nearly three-quarters of an hour.
Highlights: Kenin def. Potapova
In set two, Kenin came from 3-1 down, crucially breaking serve on her fifth break point in Potapova's 3-3 service game en route to winning in 78 minutes.
"I'm super happy," Kenin said afterward. "I played really well. Good matches under my belt definitely gives me a lot of confidence, so I'm doing everything right. ... My mindset is there. I'm feisty, energetic, and it's all good."
Potapova was undone by 15 double faults among her 27 unforced errors, which afforded Kenin 14 break-point opportunities. She converted six and hit 15 winners to 14 unforced.
Collins rolls past Garcia
After coming from a break down in the third set of her second-round win over Jelena Ostapenko, Collins led almost wire-to-wire in her 67-minute win over Garcia, the World No. 10.
Collins previously defeated Maria Sakkari in Montreal before the US Open and now hasn't lost a set against Garcia in three career meetings.
On her home turf 🇺🇸
— wta (@WTA) September 14, 2023
Danielle Collins is into the #SanDiegoOpen semifinals after defeating Garcia 6-2, 6-3. pic.twitter.com/oIFW5oCAV3
After Garcia held at love to begin the match, Collins won five straight games, and eight of nine in all, to take a set and a break lead. Collins lost just 11 points in eight service games overall, hit 14 winners to just five unforced errors and converted four of five break points.
"I got off to a pretty good start and played solid all the way through," Collins said afterward. "Today, I felt like I was really feeling my shots and my game, so I was really in a good headspace and flowing the whole match.
"Caro played some great tennis and certainly challenged me off her serve and her return. I just tried to play solid first balls and hang in there."