On a stifling day where temperatures topped 42 degrees Celsius, former world number one Wozniacki goes down

Eugenie Bouchard reached her first semi-final for 10 months as she battled intense heat to down higher-ranked Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the Sydney International yesterday. The former Wimbledon finalist wore down the 27th-ranked Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-3 in 76 minutes to set up a semi-final with Britain’s world number 10 Johanna Konta.
It will be the 49th-ranked Canadian’s first WTA Tour semi-final since the Malaysian Open in March last year. “It’s a good step in the right direction. I know there is a long way to go to achieve what I want,” Bouchard said. “But to match up against solid players like I have this week, it’s a very tough tournament here. So I’m proud of that, for sure.”
Bouchard beat Konta in three sets in the second round at last year’s Wimbledon, but it was a battle. “I barely got through the last one. She’s a top-10 player. She’s playing her best tennis right now,” Bouchard said of Konta. “I know she will be pretty aggressive. She hits a big ball. I will be ready for that and try and play some good tennis. Yeah, just be grateful for another day in Sydney.”
Konta continued her impressive progress through the Sydney International draw with a 6-3, 7-5 win over rising young Russian Daria Kasatkina, who had eliminated German world number one Angelique Kerber in Tuesday’s second round. “I played Eugenie last year in Wimbledon, a really, really tough battle,” Konta said. “I know going into it that it’s going to be a tough match. She still is one of the best players, and, yeah, it’s a given that it’s going to be a tough one.”
Elsewhere on a stifling day where temperatures topped 42 degrees Celsius (108 Fahrenheit), former world number one Caroline Wozniacki went down in a punishing three hour, 20 minute battle with Barbora Strycova 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4.
Both players needed treatment for foot blisters on the broiling Ken Rosewall Arena hardcourt. Strycova in the semis will face the 2013 winner Agnieszka Radwanska, who eliminated Chinese qualifier Duan Yingying 6-3, 6-2 in the evening match. Duan was the first Chinese woman through to the quarter-finals in Sydney since Li Na in 2013.
Wozniacki was attempting to end a run of seven Sydney International visits without getting past the quarter-finals. She battled back from 5-2 down in the second set and 5-0 in the tiebreaker but fell in the third set.
“It was brutal out there, and it was really hot. But you just try and think like you’re on a beach drinking pina coladas,” Wozniacki said. “That’s basically your train of thought. You know that it’s the same for both players, so I was just trying to mentally just try and keep cool. But it was really, really hot out there.”

 Top seed Thiem battles past qualifier into quarters
Austrian top seed Dominic Thiem had a three-set struggle with Portuguese qualifier Gastao Elias before clinching a quarter-final spot at the Sydney International yesterday.
Thiem, the world number eight, had several chances to put away the plucky 81st-ranked Elias, only to be broken back before he eventually won 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5 in a match that finished at midnight. Thiem will now face Britain’s number three Daniel Evans in today’s quarters.
“That’s three times I’ve played Gastao and each time it has been very close matches,” Thiem said. “He was running unbelievable with long rallies and I’m very happy to be in the quarter-finals.”
Evans fought back from dropping the opening set to down Spanish eighth seed Marcel Granollers 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Gilles Muller earlier beat the heat to be one match away from a third straight semi-final appearance at the Sydney International, following a big-serving victory over Australian Matt Barton.
The sixth seed from Luxembourg prevailed over Barton 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 as temperatures nudged 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) to reach the quarter-finals. Muller, who lost to Grigor Dimitrov in last year’s semi-final, will next face Uruguayan second seed Pablo Cuevas, who overcame Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
“It was tough today. I think it was good that we both have big serves, there were not many rallies so that helped to get through it. I was happy when it was over,” Muller said.
The 33-year-old added that he was still struggling with the lingering effects of illness from last week’s Brisbane International, where he lost in the first round to American Jared Donaldson. “The result is actually not so bad, the quarter-finals, so I should be happy,” he said. “I like it here. The courts are quite fast, I enjoy the city. I feel good here. I don’t know what it is, but it’s true my results have been great here over the last three years.”
German fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber knocked out Australian Jordan Thompson 7-5, 6-4 and will face the two-time defending champion Viktor Troicki. Third seed Troicki from Serbia won his 13th consecutive match at the Sydney international with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi.
Kohlschreiber needed just 84 minutes to cruise past Thompson, who failed to save a single break point.
Spanish fourth seed Pablo Carreno-Busta dropped the first set before overcoming German Mischa Zverev 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
Carreno-Busta will face Andrey Kuznetsov in the last eight after the Russian beat Australian teenager Alex De Minaur on an injury retirement at the start of the second set after winning the opening set 6-2.

Results
(x denotes seed):
Women’s singles Quarter-finals
Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x10) 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4; Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-2, 6-3; Johanna Konta (GBR x6) bt Darya Kasatkina (RUS) 6-3, 7-5; Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x2) bt Duan Yingying (CHN) 6-3, 6-2

Men’s singles 2nd round
Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP x4) bt Mischa Zverev (GER) 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3; Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x5) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 7-5, 6-4; Gilles Muller (LUX x6) bt Matthew Barton (AUS) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4; Pablo Cuevas (URU x2) bt Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; Daniel Evans (GBR) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP x8) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3; Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) bt Alex De Minaur (AUS) 6-2 retired (abdominal strain); Viktor Troicki (SRB x3) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-3, 6-4; Dominic Thiem (AUT x1) bt Gastao Elias (POR) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5