American Peyton Stearns qualified for the semifinals of the WTA 1000 clay tennis tournament in the Italian capital Rome with a prize fund of over 6 million euros, BNR reported.
Unseeded Stearns defeated the 16th seed in the scheme, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, in the quarterfinals with 6:2, 4:6, 7:6(4). The match lasted two hours and 36 minutes.
In the semifinals, the American tennis player will face sixth seed Jazmine Paolini of Italy.
Peyton Stearns won the first set after losing the first two games, but responded with an impressive 6-0 series for the final 6-2. In the second set, she led 2-0 and 4-2, but a turnaround followed for Svitolina, who took four consecutive games and after 6-4 tied the score. The Ukrainian pulled 3-0 in the third set, but Stearns caught up to 3-3. The rivals exchanged one break each, and Stearns took the lead for 5-4 and 6-5.
Elina Svitolina tied for 6-6, but in the subsequent tiebreak Stearns prevailed with 7-4 points.