OSAKA, Japan -- Fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber advanced to the semifinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Friday after Madison Keys retired with an injury in the deciding set.
Kerber led 6-4, 4-6, 2-1 when the fifth-seeded Keys retired.
"It was a really good match in the first two sets, and this is never the way that you want to win," Kerber said. "I hope Madison will recover really soon so she is ready for the next tournaments."
Keys recorded 39 winners against 33 unforced errors, while Kerber had 18 winners and 13 unforced errors.
Kerber next faces the winner of the match between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Misaki Doi. Pavlyuchenkova was leading 2-0 in the first set before rain stopped play for the day.
At the Korea Open in Seoul, fourth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland cruised into the semifinals with an emphatic 6-2, 6-3 victory over Kirsten Flipkens.
Linette next faces second-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova for the first time. The Russian beat Kristie Ahn of the United States 6-7 (0), 6-4, 6-4. Ahn held a 2-0 lead in the decider before losing four straight games, and she was unable to make a comeback.
In the other quarterfinal, Karolina Muchova beat Priscilla Hon 6-3, 6-3 to set up a match against eighth-seeded Yafan Wang, who beat Paula Badosa 6-1, 6-3.
At the Guangzhou International in China, Samantha Stosur rallied after a slow start to beat Viktorija Golubic 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the semifinals and qualified for her first WTA singles final in two and a half years.
"I just tried to hang in there and find a way to start playing a bit better," Stosur said. "She's very tough to play against, so I'm just happy to get through."
Stosur is chasing her first title since winning at Strasbourg in 2017. Her opponent will be third-seeded Sofia Kenin after the American defeated Anna Blinkova of Russia 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-1.