Puig fights back to reach Doha semis

Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova and Puerto Rican Olympic champion Monica Puig overcame multiple rain interruptions to reach the last four stage of the Qatar Total Open at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex.
Pliskova, the World No.2, won 6-2, 6-0 to breeze past China’s Zhang Shuai to set up a semifinal showdown with Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova.
In the other quarter-final, Puig advanced to her first semifinal since her historic gold medal run at the 2016 Rio Olympics after fighting back to beat Russian teenager Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
 "I was waiting for this match since yesterday (Thursday) evening, so I was happy that I won," said Pliskova after the match.
 "I think she was not playing her best today so that's why it went so fast in the second set but I played solid today so I'm really happy to be through to the semis.
"Definitely the first few days I was happy that it was raining because I needed a few days off. It was a big help the first few days but then actually it was disturbing me a little so today I was five times warming up but finally I made it."
Pliskova was fast out of the blocks, breaking Zhang in the opening game before a second break opened up a 5-2 lead thanks to some big serving and powerful hitting. But another rain delay meant that the players again had to scamper for cover.
On resumption, Pliskova swiftly served out the opening set and broke in the opening game of the second set before the rain returned.
Following yet a lengthy break of almost five hours, the Czech, who defeated Caroline Garcia in the previous round, was in no mood to hang around any longer than necessary with a semifinal also to play.
Two further breaks put her firmly in charge and she served out to love against Garbine Muguruza's conqueror to book her clash with Cibulkova.
Pliskova has never before defeated Cibulkova in their three previous meetings but hopes that her quarterfinal victory will stand her in good stead.
"Definitely a tough one. She played yesterday last night so she's going to be ready for today and different conditions so I'll try and take advantage of the match I played today and stay aggressive as always and we'll see."
Victory for the US Open finalist marks her best result on her fourth successive appearance in Doha; the Czech had not previously advanced beyond the second round.
Earlier, Puig made a remarkable fight back to beat Kasatkina.
"At our match in Indian Wells I also had match points and lost the match but against her it's always going to be tough," Puig said.
 "We're both up and coming and she's such a great player so it was a good match and I loved the fight out there."
With the match locked at a set apiece when the players were finally called off court due to rain on Thursday, Kasatkina came out of the blocks quickly, converting her fourth break point to move 3-2 ahead.
Puig saved two further break points in her next service game to keep her hopes alive before breaking back to level the match at 4-4.
A wayward stroke from Kasatkina, serving at 4-5, handed the 23-year-old a stunning comeback victory.
Victory for the Rio Games Gold medal winner means she now faces either Caroline Wozniacki or Lauren Davis for a place in the final.
Her run in Doha already marks her best of the season so far, having suffered back-to-back exits at Brisbane before making the second round of the Australian Open, losing to Mona Barthel.