Hobart International: Dominika Cibulkova through to Hobart International quarter-finals

Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the semifinals of the Hobart International tennis tournament Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-2 win over second seed Camila Giorgi.

Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., will face third seed Dominika Cibulkova in the semifinal round of the Australian Open tune-up tournament.

Bouchard had reached the quarter-finals of the Shenzhen Open in China last week in her first major action since suffering a concussion at the U.S. Open last September.

The Canadian has suffered a mixed time of it since her breakthrough year in 2014, but dropped only five games in beating the second-seeded Giorgi 6-3 6-2.

“I’m happy I was able to have a lot of energy considering how long we waited today”, Bouchard said.

“I’m looking forward to a great match, a great fight, she’s a big competitor out there and I don’t know what will happen but I will try to enjoy it”.

“The conditions were really tough”, the Slovak told reporters.

Weather delays have pushed back the order of play with defending champion Heather Watson still to complete her rain-delayed round-two match against Romanian Monica Niculescu.

In a fierce contest, Nicolescu rescued three match points to tie it up at 5-5 in the deciding set, and then had three match points of her own in game 12 before Watson made the crucial hold.

She is now in the semi-finals in Hobart along with France’s Alize Cornet, who progressed on Thursday when her opponent Mona Barthel withdrew due to a lower back injury.