Stosur wins, Gavrilova out in Madrid

Sam Stosur faces a tough task in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open after booking a match with sixth seed Simona Halep.

The Australian beat Romania's Patricia Maria Tig on Thursday 6-3 6-4 in the quarter-finals in just under 93 minutes.

Stosur's overall record with Halep is dead even at 3-all, however Halep has won their last three matches.

Stosur said she was pleased to get through such a tough match and is looking ahead to a battle against Halep.

"I thought I played really well, I'm really happy with the way that I played and (Tig) has been in very good form, so I'm pleased to get through in straight sets," she said courtside after the match.

"Simona's had a great couple of years, we've had some really tough matches in the past so I'm expecting a long and tiring match."

Meanwhile, fellow Australian Daria Gavrilova's exciting campaign has come to a disappointing end, with the world No.39 going down in her quarter-final to US teenager Louisa Chirico 7-6 (7-1) 6-2.

Gavrilova was well-fancied to progress to the semi-finals following Wednesday's stunning 6-3 6-4 win over two-time Wimbledon champion and world No.6 Petra Kvitova.

The 130th-ranked Chirico looked the fresher of the two players, aided by her third round walkover after Victoria Azarenka withdrew due to a back injury, and hit 27 winners against Gavrilova.

She will next face 38th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.