LOS ANGELES, Aug 4 ― Fourth-seeded Elise Mertens ended the giant-killing run of Johanna Konta at the WTA tournament in San Jose yesterday, setting up a semi-final clash with fifth-seeded Mihaela Buzarnescu.

Belgium's Mertens emerged from a tight match with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 victory over Konta, who had stunned 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the second round.

Mertens broke Konta at love when she served for the opening set, and saved two set points before forcing the tiebreaker.

After dropping her serve in the opening game of the second, Mertens won four games in a row and wouldn't trail again.

"I just played point-by-point, because anything can happen,” Mertens said. "I believed in myself because it was just one break and I was really happy that I took the first set.

Mertens reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January, but she and Romania's Buzarnescu will both be battling to reach a first premier level final.

Buzarnescu, who beat Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 7-5, fell to Mertens in the final in Hobart in January.

The remaining semi-final berths were to be decided later Friday, when third-seeded Venus Williams faced 49th-ranked Maria Sakkari of Greece and former world number one Victoria Azarenka met American Danielle Collins in the other quarter-final. ― AFP