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| October 9, 2005 | Sunday | Ramzan 4, 1426 |
Golovin crushes Indian rising star Sania
TOKYO, Oct 8: Third seed Tatiana Golovin of France swept past India’s Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-4 and into the women’s final on a windy day at the Japan Open on Saturday. Her opponent in Sunday’s final will be second seed Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic who breezed past fourth seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-4 6-2 at Tokyo’s Ariake Colosseum.
The eighth-seeded Sania, who ousted top seed Vera Zvonareva in Thursday’s quarterfinals looked out of sorts in the gusty conditions despite vociferous crowd support.
A strong wind made conditions tricky but Golovin kept her cool while Sania’s more attack-minded tactics were out of sync with the conditions.
Moscow-born Golovin ended the first set with a stunning drive from outside the right tramlines and streaked into a 5-0 lead in the second set.
With the fans noisily supporting the Indian, Mirza rallied to 5-2 before rain forced the Centre Court roof to be closed.
The Indian superstar quickly put two more games on the scoreboard, but despite loud chants of “Mirza Mirza,” she surrendered another service game and with it the match.
Sunday’s final will be repeat of a first-round match in last year’s competition when Golovin was the second seed.
Vaidisova, then only 15, won the match 6-3 6-4.
The men’s final will see Mario Ancic of Croatia face either Wesley Moodie of South Africa or Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.
Former Wimbledon semifinalist Ancic used his big serve and 21-cm height advantage as he cruised to a 6-2 6-1 over Germany’s Bjorn Phau in the first semifinal.
Results
Men’s singles semifinals: Mario Ancic bt Bjorn Phau 6-2, 6-1; Wesley Moodie bt Jarkko Nieminen 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4)
Women’s singles semifinals: Nicole Vaidisova bt Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-2; Tatiana Golovin bt Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-4
FILDERSTADT (Germany): Lindsay Davenport reached her ninth final of the season on Saturday when she beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-3 at the Filderstadt Grand Prix.
The top-seeded American got off to a perfect start, taking a 1-0 lead on her second break point when Hantuchova put a backhand volley wide.
Davenport also held two break points to lead 3-0, but Hantuchova resisted and then settled down to offer Davenport a real challenge.
She struck some good returns, served well and used her strong forehand to keep herself in contention.
Results
Amelie Mauresmo bt Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-4; Lindsay Davenport bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-3.—Agencies
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