Lisicki advances to Birmingham semifinals

Unseeded Sabine Lisicki has advanced to the semifinals of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham. Today, Lisicki defeated 14th seed Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6, 6-4. Joining Lisicki in the semifinals will be 2nd see (and wild card) Ana Ivanovic, 3rd seed Peng Shuai and 4th seed Daniela Hantuchova.

Ekaterina Makarova, last year's runner-up, was upset in the second round by Tamira Paszek. And Naomi Broady, who hit 20 aces against Caroline Garcia in the first round, was also defeated in the second round. Broady went out to Peng, but only after she had hit another 17 aces.

Meanwhile, in Copenhagen, top seed Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-1 win over 8th seed Alberta Brianti. 4th seed Lucie Safarova and Petra Martic also advanced, as did qualifier Mona Barthel, who upset 3rd seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.