The pairing of Romanian Monica Niculescu and Spaniard Cristina Bucsa advanced on Wednesday to the semifinals of the doubles event of the WTA 500 Internationaux de Strasbourg tennis tournament, featuring EUR 802,237 in prize money, after defeating the all-American duo Ashlyn Kruger / Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-3.

Niculescu and Bucsa, the Spanish player born in Chisinau, Rep. Moldova, clinched the victory in 66 minutes, securing a cheque for EUR 14,280 and 195 WTA points.

In the penultimate encounter, Niculescu and Bucsa will play the winners of the match Giuliana Olmos (Mexico) / Alexandra Panova (Russia) and second seeds Demi Schuurs (Netherlands) / Luisa Stefani (Brazil).

AGERPRES