TORONTO, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Zheng Qinwen failed to reach her first WTA 1000 semifinals as she lost to Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the National Bank Open on Friday.
The former world No.1 Pliskova jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening set, but Zheng won five straight games and came back to steal the set.
In the second set, Zheng failed to repeat the comeback in the previous set when trailing 3-0, and Pliskova wrapped up the match with an identical 6-4 in the decider.
The up-and-down match took two hours and 34 minutes, with Pliskova's total score of 104 slightly higher than Zheng's 103.
Pliskova, last year's runner-up, will meet Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia, who knocked out Belinda Bencic from Switzerland.
In the other semifinals, Jessica Pegula of the United States will face Romanian Simona Halep. ■
