Australia's Stosur rallies to claim SF spot at Hong Kong Open, Venus Williams also in final four

Former US Open champion regroups against Briton Heather Watson to set up semi-final with Angelique Kerber while Venus Williams heads for showdown with Jelena Jankovic

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Heather Watson of Britain hits a return against Samantha Stosur in their quarter-final matchup, won by Stosur, at the Hong Kong Open yesterday. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 2:30am, 17 Oct 2015Updated: 10:27am, 30 Jun 2016

Australia's Samantha Stosur shook off the errors to produce an emphatic finish in her quarter-final against Britain's Heather Watson to progress to the last four of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open yesterday.

A shock seemed to be on the cards when world No 61 Watson took the first set 6-4. And when the 23-year-old moved into a 3-1 lead in the second set, the tournament's first major upset looked like it was unfolding.

But Stosur had other ideas. Her game had been littered with unforced errors until that point, but she suddenly ripped back, winning 11 games on the trot to destroy Watson's hopes, running out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victor and setting up a date with Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals.

Angelique Kerber of Germany hits a return against Caroline Garcia of France in their women's singles quarter-final at the WTA Hong Kong Open. Photo: AFP

"From a set and 3-1 down, I really picked it up," said Stosur. "I remember hitting a winner on a return and at that point telling myself, 'That's it'. I didn't play bad up until that point, but it was like something clicked for me and all of a sudden I moved better and played extremely well."

The 31-year-old is now eyeing her third tour victory of the season and is confident going into the match with Kerber, over whom she holds a 3-2 head-to-head advantage.

"I've played Angie [Kerber] numerous times and won and lost. I know Angie's trying to make the [WTA Finals] so she's going to be fired up."