Swiss Bencic defeats Pliskova to make BNP Paribas Open women's singles semis

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Swiss Belinda Bencic's excellent adventure continues at the BNP Paribas Open as the former world No.7 shook off a tough challenge from No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic to win at 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and reach the semifinals on Thursday.

The victory was her 12th win in a row. After several years of injury struggles, Bencic kickstarted her season with a win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships where she scored four straight top 10 wins en route to the title.

Celebrating her 22nd birthday in Indian Wells, she came off her fourth round win over world No. 1 and defending champion Naomi Osaka of Japan and then used two hours and 16 minutes to overcome good friend Pliskova in the quarterfinals.

Standing between Bencic and a second straight final will be the winner of the quarterfinal between former No.1s Angelique Kerber of Germany and Venus Williams of the United States.