Simona Halep, the top seed, was the latest casualty to fall at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham as she was beaten 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) by France’s Kristina Mladenovic in the quarter-finals.
Halep, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year and was aiming to win a fourth singles title of the year, had no answer to the world No43 despite taking the first set. That means the fourth seed, Angelique Kerber, is now the senior player left in the draw.
Mladenovic will now face Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals after the world No12 from the Czech Republic followed up her win over Britain’s Johanna Konta with a swift straight sets victory over Spain’s Carla Suárez Navarro.
In the other half of the draw, Germany’s Kerber will face her compatriot Sabine Lisicki after beating Katerina Siniakova in straight sets. Lisicki, who was runner-up at Wimbledon in both 2011 and 2013 and set a world record for aces in a women’s singles match by firing 27 in her second-round win, overcame Daniela Hantuchova 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 to reach the last four.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Laura Robson will play Russian Daria Gavrilova as she attempts to qualify for the Aegon International at Eastbourne after 17 months out with injury.
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