World No. 34 Donna Vekic has steamrolled 2018 runner-up Aliaksandra Sasnovich to reach the Brisbane International semifinals.
The 22-year-old Croatian won 6-2 6-0 on Friday at Pat Rafter Arena, accounting for top seed Elina Svitolina’s second-round conqueror in less than an hour.
Vekic started strongly in taking a 4-0 lead in the opening set, but was more dominant in the second when she lost just two points on return to take the set in 26 minutes.
Belarusian Sasnovich, who beat world No. 4 Svitolina in three sets two days ago, did not win a point on her first serve in the second set.
“I think today was probably one of the most perfect matches I’ve ever played in my career,” Vekic said.
“Everything was going well for me. I was trying to be aggressive, trying to play my game and not give her time to be aggressive.
“Because if she’s on, she’s on.
“I was watching her match against Svitolina, and I was like, ‘oh, wow, that’s going to be tough’.”
Vekic will meet the winner of Ajla Tomljanovic, the sole remaining Australian woman, and fifth seed Karolina Pliskova’s quarterfinal for a place in the decider.
Vekic’s time in Brisbane, which includes a second-round win over sixth seed Kiki Bertens, improves on her showing in 2017 when she lost in the first round to American qualifier and then-world No. 189 Asia Muhammad.
She beat Magdalena Rybarikova in the first round and joins U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka and 27-ranked Lesia Tsurenko in the final four.