Charleston: It proved tough to be a top seed at the Family Circle Cup this week.
No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic and No. 3 seed Sara Errani were both upset Friday in the quarterfinals, leaving sixth-seeded Eugenie Bouchard as the lone top-10 seed left in the semifinals.
Jankovic fell to Bouchard 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to start the round of eight before 17-year-old Swiss qualifier Belinda Bencic pulled off an even bigger shock by eliminating Errani, a runner-up at the French Open in 2012.
Bencic, who had to win twice last weekend simply to make the field, took over in the final two sets for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over the 26-year-old Italian. Bencic hadn't made it past the second round in two previous WTA events in 2014 and wasn't expecting to advance to her first tour semifinals.
"I was hoping for it and I was believing in me that it would come," she said. "Yeah, I'm just really happy it came this week."
Bencic will face either 12th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova or Jana Cepelova, who defeated world No. 1 Serena Williams on Tuesday night to start off a week of surprises at the Family Circle.
Errani looked confident and in control in the first set before getting overwhelmed by Bencic, who won 12 of the final 15 games. Errani talked to herself and even threw down her racket as Bencic's crisp shots clipped lines and moved out of reach.
Earlier, Bouchard rallied in the third set by winning five of the last six games to oust Jankovic, a past champion who came in ranked eighth in the world.
The 20-year-old Canadian reached the semifinals at a WTA tour event for the second time this season and fifth in her career.
On Saturday, she plays 14th-seeded Andrea Petkovic as she seeks her first title - something the sixth-seeded Bouchard thinks she's more than ready for.
"Every time I go into a tournament now and every match, I always believe I can win," she said.
Even when she falls behind, as happened in her past two matches. Bouchard trailed in the third set against Venus Williams on Thursday and Jankovic this time before rallying to victories.
"I feel confidence in myself," she said.
Petkovic topped ninth-seeded Lucie Safarova 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. The 26-year-old German, ranked 40th in the world, had struggled in recent events.
So Petkovic was pleased to shake off Safarova in the final set and advance to weekend play.
"I'm used to winning at least two, three matches and then losing to the top players, but it was a really tough few weeks for me in the past," she said. "So now I'm just really, really happy and kind of relieved."
Bouchard made it to the Australian Open semifinals in 2014, losing to eventual champion Li Na. In her only WTA final, she lost to Sam Stosur in Osaka in October.
Bouchard trailed 2-1 in the final set. She then dug in to win the next three games and take control. Her steady, strong groundstrokes wore down Jankovic.
"It was the third set and your concentration goes down a little bit if you're getting tired," Jankovic said. "It was so close. It could have went either way, if I was a little bit tougher out there and played certain points a little smarter."
The two also met in the quarterfinals in 2013, and Jankovic won 6-2, 6-1. Bouchard was ranked No. 114 then, but she's 20th now.
"Well, I didn't want it to be Groundhog Day today, for sure," Bouchard said. "Same tournament, same round, same opponent."
