Goerges dethrones Kasatkina to reach Charleston semifinals

Los Angeles, United States: Germany's Julia Goerges dethroned defending champ Daria Kasatkina to punch her ticket to the WTA Charleston semifinals with a 6-4, 6-3 win on Friday.

The German number two and fifth seed blasted 33 winners and kept her unforced errors to a minimum to shut down the Russian's superb baseline game which propelled her to the title in 2017.

Goerges advances to her first semi-final at this claycourt event where she will play Latvian eighth seed Anastasija Sevastova who cruised past Czech Kristyna Pliskova 6-4, 6-0.

Goerges blasted nine aces and won 84 percent of her first serve points in the 77-minute contest.

After losing her serve early in the third game of the first set, Goerges broke back immediately to level at 2-2. She then served for a love hold and never trailed again in the match.

The other semi-final will feature American Madison Keys squaring off against Netherlands Kiki Bertens.