Linz Open: Danielle Collins, Alison Riske set up all-American semifinal

Linz, Austria: Alison Riske defeated Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday to set up an all-American semifinal against Danielle Collins at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz.The third-seeded Collins, who is pursuing her third title of the season, beat Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium 7-5, 6-3.Simona Halep also advanced to the semifinals, rallying from a set and a break down to beat Jasmine Paolini of Italy 4-6, 7-5, 6-0.The former top-ranked Halep will next meet fellow Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, who saved three set points in the second set on her way to a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over fourth-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia.Riske and Collins have played each other once before — in Rome in 2018, when Collins won in three close sets.The 73rd-ranked Riske is going into her second semifinal this year, after reaching the final in Portoroz, Slovenia in September.She came back from 5-2 down in the second set to close out the win over Wang, who had upset U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in the previous round.Collins, who is ranked 29th, recovered from a break down to take the opening set against Van Uytvanck and won three games in a row in the second to wrap up the win.