Marketa Vondrousova on Friday reached her first semifinal since clinching the Wimbledon title last July when she stunned world number two Aryna Sabalenka at the Stuttgart clay-court tournament.
The sixth-seeded Czech came through 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in just over two hours.
It was the 24-year-old’s first win over Sabalenka in six years after losing four in a row between 2018 and 2023.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka had been attempting to make the Stuttgart final for a fourth successive year.
The powerful Belarusian crunched 35 winners to Vondrousova’s 17, but committed 48 unforced errors compared to 19.
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Wimbledon champion Vondrousova crucially converted seven of eight break points while Sabalenka only capitalised six times from 15 opportunities.
Vondrousova will face either third-ranked Coco Gauff, the US Open champion, or Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine for a place in Sunday’s final.
Earlier fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
She will face either two-time defending champion and top-ranked Iga Swiatek or former US Open winner Emma Raducanu for a place in the final.