Australia's Samantha Stosur stayed on course to defend her title at the Japan Women's Open on Friday as the top seed reached the semifinals with a straight-sets win over Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva.
Stosur, who also won this tournament in 2009, won 6-4, 6-1 in 68 minutes in the day's last quarterfinal at Utsubo Tennis Center in Osaka, booking a meeting in the last four with third-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
Svitolina defeated No. 8 seed Lauren Davis of the United States 6-2, 6-4, while Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum beat second-seeded American Madison Keys, who retired losing 6-2, 4-3 in the second set.
In the other semifinal, Luksika, who recently won a silver medal at the Asian Games in women's singles, will meet Kazakh fifth seed Zarina Diyas, a 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, 6-2 winner over Croatia's Ana Konjuh.