Ama Konjuh ISTANBUL — Second-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy advanced to the Istanbul Cup quarterfinals when Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru retired with a right shoulder injury while trailing 6-3, 4-1 Thursday. Vinci also beat Dulgheru last week in Bucharest en route to her first WTA final in a year. Vinci next faces sixth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan, who beat Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-2. No. 8-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic downed Shahar Peer of Israel 6-2, 7-5 to line up top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the quarters. Also, Croatian qualifier Ana Konjuh reached her first quarterfinals, and became the youngest at 16 to make the last eight on the tour in almost two years, by outlasting Misaki Doi of Japan 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4. The 2013 Australian Open and US Open junior champion Konjuh is the youngest player in the last-eight since compatriot Donna Vekic at Tashkent in September 2012. Konjuh, ranked 139 in the world and a qualifier in Istanbul, will face 19-year-old Ukrainian, Elina Svitolina, the world No. 35, for a place in the semifinals. Zverev reaches semifinals The 17-year-old Alexander Zverev reached the semifinals of his hometown tournament by defeating Tobias Kamke 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the Hamburg Open Friday. Zverev earned just six points in the opening set, but he saved seven of 11 break points and converted four chances to beat his fellow Hamburg resident in two hours. The 285th-ranked Zverev is the first 17-year-old to reach an ATP semifinals since 2006, when Marin Cilic lost to Feliciano Lopez at Gstaad. Zverev, who has beaten Robin Haase, No. 5 seed Mikhail Youzhny and No. 11 Santiago Giraldo, awaits either top seed David Ferrer or Pablo Andujar. Argentina's Leonardo Mayer defeated Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 7-5 for a semifinal with Philipp Kohlschreiber or Lukas Rosol. Barthel advances Mona Barthel of Germany beat Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-2, 7-6 in the Swedish Open quarterfinals Friday. Barthel, chasing her third WTA title, next plays Silvia Soler-Espinosa. The Spaniard — a first-time finalist in Strasbourg in May — beat Russia's Alexandra Panova 6-3, 6-2. In the other quarterfinals, Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa defeated Spain's Lara Arruabarrena 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, while Slovakia's Jana Cepelova beat Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 7-5. Nadal and Djokovic highlight US Open field Defending champion Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic highlight the men's field at the 2014 US Open. The United States Tennis Association says Thursday that Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Lleyton Hewitt will also be among those who received direct entry into the hard-court Grand Slam tournament. Nadal will defend his title in the tournament that begins Aug. 25 in New York. Djokovic will put a streak of four straight appearances in the final on the line. Among Americans receiving direct entry were John Isner and Sam Querrey. The men's final is scheduled for Sept. 8. — Agencies
