Routliffe and Sitak advance to respective semi finals

Another encouraging result for New Zealand doubles player Erin Routliffe at the WTA 500 tournament in Ostrava.

 The 26-year-old Kiwi and her American partner Kaitlyn Christian are through to the semi-finals. The third seeds have thumped Germany’s Vivian Heisen and Czech Renata Voracova 6-3 6-2 in 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Routliffe is breaking new ground with every win having no ranking points to defend. Before the US Open, she was ranked 108 on the WTA Tour. She is currently at a career high 67 and is projected to climb to 58 by reaching the semis.  They will face top seeds Magda Linette from Poland and American Bernarda Pera for a place in the final.

Artem Sitak is through to the double’s semi-finals at the ATP 250 event in Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan. Teaming up with Ricardo Berankis from Lithuania, the pair have beaten Sweden’s Andre Goransson and Italy’s Andrea Vavassori 7-5, 3-6 10-7 in an hour and 36 minutes.

They will take on Britain’s Lloyd Glasspool and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara for a place in the final.