Great Britain's trailblazing trio continued their brilliant runs at the Nottingham Open as Katie Boulter, Heather Watson and Jodie Burrage all advanced to the semi-finals.
On a day where four British women were competing in the quarter-finals of a WTA Tour event for the first time, Boulter bested compatriot Harriet Dart 6-3 7-5 to set up a meeting with Watson, who downed Viktorija Golubic 7-6[2] 7-5, prior to which Burrage saw off Magdalena Frech 6-2 3-6 7-5.
Quickly taking the all-British affair by the scruff of the neck, Boulter earned the double break for a 5-1 lead in the first set, although she was broken while serving for the set as Dart threatened a turnaround.
However, the qualifier lost serve again in the ninth game to gift Boulter a deserved lead, and it was a similar story in the second set, as the British number one established a 5-2 advantage and would try to serve out the match.
Boulter failed to do so, though, as Dart saved a match point to get the contest back on serve before her misfiring compatriot wasted another three match points in the 10th game.
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Nevertheless, Boulter raced through her final service game to love before bringing up another three match points on Dart's serve, and a wide forehand from the latter finally saw Boulter get the job done.
There was a frosty exchange between the pair afterwards, though, as Dart appeared to take issue at Boulter putting her finger to her head while approaching the net, to which the British number one replied that it was a gesture she performed after every match towards her team.
Boulter now faces a second compatriot in the shape of Watson, meaning that there will be at least one British finalist in the Nottingham Open, courtesy of the 31-year-old's two-set success over Golubic.
Yet to drop a set on home soil, Watson - who saw off Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria in the last 16 - stormed into a 3-0 lead in the opening set, and despite a fightback from Golubic, the Brit made the most of her opportunities in the tie-breaker.
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During a closely-contested second set, there was only one break point fashioned for either player in the opening 10 games - an opportunity for Golubic which Watson saved - but the Swiss world number 150 crucially lost her serve in the 11th game.
On her first match point, Watson sent a sizzling ace down the T - which was initially called out before an overrule by the umpire - as the former British number one celebrated her maiden Nottingham semi-final qualification.
In the day's first encounter, Burrage continued her own stellar streak on the Nottingham grass with victory over Frech in two hours and 22 minutes, sending a second Polish opponent packing in the space of two days after stunning Magda Linette in the second round.
Following a pair of early holds for both players, Burrage embarked on a four-game winning streak to take the first set with a love hold, but she was broken in the fourth game of the second and could not recover.
A topsy-turvy decider saw two breaks apiece before Burrage squandered two match points in the 10th game, but in the 12th, Frech sent a backhand return into the net on match point to send Burrage through to her first-ever WTA semi, where she will face Alize Cornet.
Ben Knapton
