Wozniacki back in Dubai semi-finals

Caroline Wozniacki reached the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships for the sixth time when she defeated Catherine Bellis 6-3 6-2.

Wozniacki, who won the Dubai title in 2011, reached the Doha final last week and played her ninth match in nine days on Thursday.

Bellis, the youngest player in the draw at 17, scored the biggest win of her six-month pro career on Wednesday when she upset her first top-10 player, sixth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

The American started the match confidently, jumping out to 3-1, but couldn’t sustain the momentum.

“It was really fun for me to see what the highest level is (like),” Bellis said.

In a fight strictly from the baseline, Wozniacki won the next nine games to lead 6-3 4-0.

“I stepped into the court a little bit after being down 3-1 and just tried to keep the pressure on her, make her think a little bit, not give her too many free points,” said Wozniacki, who had her upper left leg taped.

She will play Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia for a place in the final. The 35th-ranked Sevastova reached her first semi-final of the season with a 6-4 7-5 win over Wang Qiang of China.

“She’s a player that mixes the pace up quite a bit,” Wozniacki said of Sevastova. “She’s definitely going to try and get me out of my own rhythm.”

Seventh seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine improved her career record against Lauren Davis to 4-0 after defeating the American 6-0 6-4 in their quarter-final.

Svitolina, a semi-finalist last year, won her fifth career title at the Taiwan Open this month and will play either top seed Angelique Kerber or Ana Konjuh of Croatia.

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