Tommy Paul beats Alex de Minaur to qualify for Italian Open semi-final

ROME: Tommy Paul defeated Australia's Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-3 to qualify for the Italian Open quarter-finals here at the Foro Italico on Wednesday.

The first set went on to 5-5, but Paul was strong enough to come back and win two consecutive games to seal the set 7-5.

Seventh seed de Minaur was broken in the fourth and 12th games and went on to trail 5-1 in the second set. The American closed the set soon by 6-3.

Before this defeat, Australian de Minaur was 5-0 up against the American.

The match between the 11th seed Paul and the Australian number one was delayed due to rain, topped by a hailstorm. 

Eleventh seed Paul will now take on Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who defeated Czech Jakub Mensik by 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Meanwhile, on the women's side, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine was stunned by American Peyton Stearns 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) to reach the event's semi-final.

After seeing 6-2 and 4-2 lead slipped from her hands, the American rallied from a double break down in the third set to edge past the Ukrainian.

The match included 14 breaks, six of which occurred in the third set.

World number 42 Stearns has created history by becoming the first player to win three in a row in WTA main-draw matches in third-set tiebreakers.

Stearns will now play Italian Jasmine Paolini on Thursday in the semi-final, who edged past Diana Shnaider 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-2 to advance to the next round on Tuesday.