Daria Kasatkina and wildcard Margarita Gasparyan sank the top two seeds at the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy, where the semi-finals will be all-Russian showdowns.
Ekaterina Alexandrova, the number one seed, fell 6-2 7-5 to Gasparyan, before former top-10 star Kasatkina continued her recent revival by landing a 1-6 6-1 6-2 victory against Veronika Kudermetova.
Friday marked the first time at a WTA tournament that as many as seven of the final eight players have been Russian, and the day's opening clash produced a significant upset.
It was a valid reminder of what might have been for world number 126 Gasparyan, who like Alexandrova is 26 years old but has struggled massively with injuries over the years.
Gasparyan was particularly helped by her superior form on first serve in the opening set, putting 72.7 per cent in court to 44 per cent by her opponent and winning 75 per cent of points when landing that delivery.
A topsy-turvy second set saw a total of seven breaks between the two players, but Gasparyan's 4-3 advantage in that respect helped her clinch a first WTA 500 semi-final appearance.
Up next for her is 36-year-old Vera Zvonareva, the former world number two who beat Anastasia Gasanova 6-3 6-1, saving six of seven break points en route to victory.
Romania's Jaqueline Cristian was the final non-Russian player left in the draw and she certainly tested Svetlana Kuznetsova, but ultimately the 35-year-old fourth seed prevailed 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-3.
Next for former US Open and French Open winner Kuznetsova will be Kasatkina, who rounded off the day by shaking off a slow start to look highly impressive against second seed Kudermetova.
The 23-year-old Kasatkina has endured a couple of lean years since entering the top 10 in October 2018 but landed a title last month at the Phillip Island Trophy.
Asked about how she came back from being trounced in the opening set by Kudermetova, Kasatkina said on Amazon Prime: "I think it's just women's tennis and this is what tennis is all about.
"It took me some time to get into this match but at the end I won it."
As for how Saturday's clash with Kuznetsova might play out, Kasatkina said: "We trained many times together but never played in an official match so it's hard to say."
'The numbers don't lie' – Djokovic hailed as greatest of all time by Lopez
Novak Djokovic is just one grand slam away from becoming the most decorated player in history and Feliciano Lopez believes "the numbers don't lie" when it comes to debating tennis' greatest.
Serbia's Djokovic equalled Margaret Court's record of 24 grand slam triumphs after defeating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets at the US Open earlier in September.
That made the world number one, aged 36 years and 111 days at the time, the oldest winner of the men's singles title at the US Open.
It was also Djokovic's third major crown of 2023, winning a trio of grand slams in a calendar year for the fourth time in his career,
Davis Cup tournament director Lopez, who had previously hailed Djokovic for featuring at the "unique" competition, suggested no one in history compares with the 36-year-old.
Asked by Stats Perform if Djokovic was the GOAT – greatest of all time – Lopez said: "According to the numbers, yes. The numbers don't lie.
"If you look at the stats, Novak is the best. So, I mean, what can I say?
"I think the numbers are very clear, not only by the fact that he's won 24 slams, but also there are other numbers and other statistics that clearly show he's the best player who ever played the sport.
"According to the numbers, I cannot say anything different."
Djokovic triumphed at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open, only missing out on a clean sweep of the majors after losing the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz.
As for Djokovic's chances for more major success going forward, Lopez believes the sky is still the limit.
"It's very difficult to predict honestly, but as long as he's feeling physically strong I think it's clear that his will in the last three or four years is to keep winning grand slams," Lopez added.
"If he is able to sustain his physical condition for the next two years, I can fairly say that he can win, I don't know, two, three or four, but it's very difficult to say one number because this year, for example, he could have won all four.
"He won in Australia, he won in Paris, he was very close to winning Wimbledon because of that second-set tie-break, and he just won the US Open.
"You ask me how many grand slams you think he will win in the future when he just won three of them in the same year!
"I don't know, maybe three or four more is fair to say, but it's very difficult to predict."
Next season I’ll be back – Emma Raducanu out for rest of year through injury
Emma Raducanu has revealed she will be sidelined for the remainder of the year.
The 20-year-old Briton was forced to miss the recent US Open, as well as the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year, after undergoing operations on both wrists and one ankle at the beginning of May.
Raducanu, who fell out of the world’s top 200 this week, had hoped of an autumn comeback after she returned to the practice court last month.
But she told BBC Sport: “Next season I’ll be back. This season all the slams were finished so it was difficult to watch them go by but I was trying to stay in my lane as much as possible and keep focused on my recovery.”
Raducanu has been dogged by injuries since her 2021 US Open victory.
She has played only 10 matches this year and has failed to make it beyond the second round of any grand slam since her superb Flushing Meadows triumph.
Great Britain face Novak Djokovic’s Serbia in Davis Cup quarter-finals
Great Britain have been drawn to play Novak Djokovic’s Serbia in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in Malaga.
Britain secured their place in November’s knockout stage by finishing top of qualifying Group B on Sunday night after their thrilling 2-1 win against France.
Defending champions Canada will face Finland, the Czech Republic play Group B runners-up Australia and the Netherlands take on Italy.
The final eight nations will compete for the 2023 Davis Cup in Malaga from November 21-26.
Britain secured their place in this year’s finals after Dan Evans and Neal Skupski saved four match points in their decisive doubles match against French pair Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin at a sold-out AO Arena in Manchester.
Evans and Skupski clinched a 1-6 7-6 (4) 7-6 (6) win in the deciding rubber after earlier 2-1 wins against both Australia and Switzerland.
Britain captain Leon Smith opted to play his highest-ranked duo Cameron Norrie and Evans in the singles against France.
Andy Murray and Jack Draper had featured against Switzerland and Australia respectively, while world number three in the doubles rankings Skupski completed the five-man line-up.
Smith is confident Britain can mount a serious challenge to repeat their success of 2015 when Murray led them to their last Davis Cup win with victory over Belgium in the final.
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