Viktorija Golubic kept alive her hopes of going one better at the Linz Open this year with a straightforward quarter-final victory over Johanna Larsson.

The Swiss was a beaten finalist at this event in 2016, losing out to Dominika Cibulkova, and she earned her semi-final berth with ease on Friday.

Golubic advanced 6-3 6-1 - breaking Larsson in each of the Swede's four service games in the second set - to book a last-four clash with top seed Magdalena Rybarikova, who came from behind to defeat Sorana Cirstea 5-7 6-2 6-1.

Qualifier Mihaela Buzarnescu prevailed in three sets for the second match running, shrugging off the disappointment of seeing three match points come and go in the second set to oust Belinda Bencic 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-4).

The Romanian's semi-final opponent on Saturday is second seed Barbora Strycova, who overcame Tatjana Maria 6-1 6-3.

Meanwhile, in the last four of the Hong Kong Tennis Open, Jennifer Brady will face Daria Gavrilova and Wang Qiang will take on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Brady, Qiang and Pavlyuchenkova enjoyed respective straight-sets wins over Nicole Gibbs, Samantha Stosur and Naomi Osaka on Friday while Gavrilova battled past Lizette Cabrera 6-1 3-6 6-4.