Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Magdalena Rybarikova kept hopes of a repeat title alive by downing top-seeded Angelique Kerber in three sets in the quarterfinals of the Citi Open tennis tournament.
Rybarikova, seeded seventh, earned the only break of the third set to come away with a 7-6 (7-0), 3-6, 6-3 victory on the hardcourts at FitzGerald Tennis Center.
Rybarikova beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in last year's D.C. finale.
Meanwhile, third-seeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova won the first game of the match against Monica Niculescu before the Romanian retired on Day 5 and fourth-seeded Frenchwoman Alize Cornet snuck past fifth-seeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 to reach the final four.
One other quarterfinal saw former top-10 German Andrea Petkovic overcome Argentine Paula Ormaechea, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
The 2013 Citi Open champ will collect $40,000.
