Lisicki rides upset to Aegon semifinals

BIRMINGHAM, England, June 10 (UPI) -- Sabine Lisicki pulled off the only upset Friday at the Aegon Classic tennis tournament in England and advanced to the event's semifinals.

On a day in which three of the tournament's top four seeds also earned spots in the semifinals, Lisicki eliminated 14th-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6 (7-1), 6-4. Lisicki didn't manage a break point versus Rybarikova in the first set but took control in the tiebreaker.

She fought off four of five break points for Rybarikova while converting two of her own in winning the second set.

Lisicki will face third-seeded Peng Shuai in the semifinals Saturday. Peng needed more than 2 hours to get past Marina Erakovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, winning just six more points (106-100) over the course of the match.

The other semifinal sends No. 2-seeded Ana Ivanovic against fourth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova. Ivanovic advanced 6-3, 6-4 over Mirjana Lucic in 60 minutes. Ivanovic, who hasn't lost a set this week, won 60 percent of the points Friday. Hantuchova defeated Alison Riske 6-2, 6-4 by winning nearly half of the points off Riske's serve.

Ivanovic is 4-1 lifetime against Hantuchova while Lisicki won the only time she played Peng.