Two of the top seeds at the Nurmemberg Open are safely through to the semi-final stage of the tournament, where they will now cross paths for a fifth time on the professional tour. Angelique Kerber and Roberta Vinci had cross paths on four previous occasions and split the head-to-head series 2-2 over the three-year length of the rivalry.

In a relatively straightforward encounter in the quarter-final stage of the tournament, Angelique Kerber advanced to the final four in Nuremberg with a straight sets victory against Misaki Doi. She struck one ace, 62 percent and converted six of seven break points to secure the 6-2, 6-3 win. The contest lasted a total of one hour and six minutes.

In one of the other four quarter-final matches on court that day, Roberta Vinci advanced to the semi-finals with a three set win against Kurumi Nara. It was a rollercaster affair that saw Vinci win 65% of her first service points and convert four break points to close out the match 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes. Vinci was the more solid returner of the two competitors, particularly in the first service returns, which helped her break serve enough times to secure the victory. In the end, she won 47% of return points, which is 8% more than Nara.

This is the fifth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with the head-to-head series split at 2-2. They have no met on the tour since Beijing in 2013 and only met on clay once during in those four matches. Kerber won that sole clay court meeting, which came in the form of a straight sets win at Stuttgart in 2012.