Americans McHale and Keys Push Into Strasbourg Semis
The quarterfinal matches in the WTA Internationaux de Strasbourg began on Thursday morning as two American players took the court.
New Jersey’s Christina McHale eased into the semifinals in Strasbourg, France Thursday as she defeated Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 6-2, 3-1. Diyas was forced to retire from the match early due to injury, but McHale seemed to be in control of the match from the onset.
She had a first serve percentage of 79 percent, picking up points on 19 of her 24 serves. McHale also smashed five aces and broke Diyas serve six times on her way to the quarterfinal victory. The 22-year old American now moves on to the semifinals, where she will take on Spain’s Silvia Soler-Espinosa for a spot in the finals.
Soler-Espinosa outlasted Italian Camilia Giorgi 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 on Thursday to earn her spot in the semifinals. The Spaniard has played the maximum three sets in each match of this tournament which could prove to be an advantage for McHale.
In the other quarterfinal match involving an American, Madison Keys battled Germany’s Julia Goerges. The two players were evenly matched and exchanged 6-2 set victories in each of the first two sets, setting up a deciding third one.
After cruising through the first set, winning it 6-2, Keys struggled in the second. Her serve got sloppy and allowed she Goerges to climb back into the match as the German cruised to a 6-2 second set victory. She then won the first two games of the third set and seemed to have control.
But in a match that was back and forth all afternoon, Keys was still very competitive. The Rock Island, Illinois native won the final six games of the set to clinch the match, winning it 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 to advance into the semifinals.
Keys will now take on the winner of Andrea Petkovic and Monica Puig who are just getting underway in France, as Keys and McHale look to make it an all-American final in the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
