World No 2 junior Sofia Costoulas (Belgium) and eighth seed Emina Bektas (United States) headlined the quarterfinal-round action on Friday at the Ilana Kloss International, the ITF $25 000 prize-money tournament, which is underway at the TuksTennis, University of Pretoria in Tshwane.
Both Costoulas and Bektas advanced to the semifinal round in straight sets on Friday and will face off in the semifinal on Saturday. Costoulas, 17, defeated 23-year-old Jenny Duerst of Switzerland 6-4, 6-3.
She displayed exceptional control throughout her match, effortlessly striking the ball into the corners. She is a joy to watch and has gotten a lot of attention since the tournament began on Tuesday.
Costoulas is currently transitioning from junior to professional tennis and has competed in several W15, W25, and W40 tournaments, with a W25 final being her best result thus far.
"I am very excited to be back in South Africa," Costoulas said.
Last year, she won the Samaai Junior Open (ITF Junior Grade A) at the University of Pretoria, and she hopes to do so again this week in the $25 000 pro event.
"I won the Junior Grade A title here last year, and I'm back this year for the $25K.
"Things have been going pretty well for me so far in the tournament."
“I hope I can keep playing like this because I enjoy it here and it's great to be back.
On the adjacent court, Bektas, the eighth seed, took down second seed Mai Hontama of Japan 7-5, 6-4.
On Saturday, Bektas will face Castoulas for a place in the final.
In the second semifinal, No 4 seed Lina Glushko of Israel will face No 5 seed Lulu Sun of Switzerland.
The semifinals will be played at the University of Pretoria on Friday and matches will be broadcast on SABC Sport channel (SABC Sport DTT Channel 4, Openview 124 and SABC+) from 10h00.
SINGLES QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
[4] Lina Glushko (ISR) bt [6] Alice Robbe (FRA) 6-3, 6-4
[5] Lulu Sun (SUI) bt Alina Korneeva (RUS) 7-5, 6-4
[8] Emina Bektas (USA) bt [2] Mai Hontama (JPN) 6-2, 6-4
Sofia Costoulas (BEL) bt Jenny Duerst (SUI) 6-4, 6-3