Naomi Broady falls to Sloane Stephens in Auckland

Naomi Broady's winning run in the ASB Classic in Auckland has been halted at the quarter-final stage after she lost 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 to Sloane Stephens.

The British No 3 defeated world No 16 Ana Ivanovic in the first round after coming through qualifying and she followed that up by beating Jelena Ostapenko in an ill-tempered clash on Wednesday.

Broady produced another battling performance against American fifth seed Stephens in the last eight but was edged out in a tie-break in the opening set after twice having chances to win it.

The 25-year-old recovered from 0-40 to lead 6-5 before Stephens held serve to take it into the tie-break and she then had another set point in the decider, but the world No 30 held firm and eventually prevailed.

Broady broke Stephens' serve to lead 2-1 in the second set but from there the American won four straight games to lead 5-2.

The Briton held serve in game eight and there were three chances for her to break in the next but Stephens finally won the game and the match with a cross-court backhand winner.

Broady posted on Instagram after the match: "Don't think I've ever walked off court after losing with a smile on my face. Auckland I love you!!!

"Thanks for such an amazing tournament and the best support I've ever experienced outside of my home country. Totally unforgettable."

And Stephens paid tribute to Broady, saying: "It was a tough one. Naomi's a great player. She has had such a great week here."

Stephens will now face former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki after the Dane trounced Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru 6-1 6-0 in only 52 minutes.

The second semi-final will be between Germany's Julia Goerges and qualifier Tamira Paszek from Austria. 

Paszek, ranked 172nd in the world, survived a three-hour marathon quarter-final against Kirsten Flipkens from Belgium, finally winning 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-3. 

Goerges also came through a three-set match when she came from behind to beat Japan's Nao Hibino 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-4.