Mertens out in Tokyo as last two seeds trampled

TOKYO: American Christina McHale pummelled Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Japan Women’s Open semifinals Friday as the last two remaining seeds in Tokyo fell by the wayside.

Defending champion McHale faced surprisingly little resistance from the third seed before Zarina Diyas came from a set down to beat fellow Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the day’s second quarter-final.