American Claire Liu advanced to the Hong Kong Tennis Open semifinals on November 6, defeating Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez 6–1, 6–4 as the tournament’s final four took shape.
Liu will face qualifier Alexandra Shubladze, who eliminated top seed Sorana Cirstea 6–2, 6–3. The official WTA draw confirmed both results in its Friday-night release.
On the other side of the draw, second seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines beat Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic 7–6 (7), 7–5. Her semifinal opponent is fourth seed Maria Sakkari of Greece, a 6–2, 6–3 winner over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Eala’s match lasted two hours and 30 minutes and was interrupted by rain, according to reporting from the venue. She recovered from a set point in the first-set tiebreak and later won the final three games of the second set after trailing 5–4.
The Philippine player finished with 40 winners and 47 unforced errors, compared with Ruzic’s 33 winners and 43 errors. Her victory completed a straight-set quarterfinal round: none of the four matches required a deciding set.
Liu had reached the last eight by defeating Katie Boulter 7–5, 6–4. She opened her tournament with a 6–2, 6–4 win over qualifier Tatiana Prozorova.
Shubladze’s route included a three-set victory over seventh seed Liudmila Samsonova and another three-set win against Elena Pridankina. Her quarterfinal victory removed the highest remaining seed in the upper half.
The hard-court WTA 250 tournament runs November 2–8. Friday’s official results establish the semifinal pairings; the championship match remains ahead.
Sources: WTA — Official Hong Kong Singles Draw, released November 6 at 11:43 p.m. Hong Kong time https://wtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/draws/2026/1074/MDS.pdf Philstar — November 6 Eala–Ruzic Match Report https://www.philstar.com/sports/2026/11/06/2568497/eala-turns-back-ruzic-rain-delayed-match-books-hong-kong-open-quarters-entry/amp/