February 4, 2006	Saturday	Muharram 5, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

TOKYO, Feb 3: Martina Hingis crushed Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-1 at the Pan Pacific Open on Friday to set up a semifinal clash with top seed Maria Sharapova.

Defending champion Sharapova, who was just 15 when injury forced Hingis into early retirement in 2002, thrashed Australia’s Samantha Stosur 6-1 6-4 in the day’s first quarter-final.

Hingis returned to the game last month, reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals and secured a second semi-final spot in four tournaments on her comeback by blitzing Kirilenko.

“I’ve got nothing to lose,” said Hingis, who won the Pan Pacific Open in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002 and received a wild card to play in Tokyo this week.

“I always said when I came back I wanted to play Sharapova and that day has come. If I play as well as I did today I think I definitely have a chance.”

“We’ll see what my strategy is tomorrow — it’s going to be a surprise,” she smiled.

Former world number one Hingis was unranked three weeks ago but rose to 117th after her strong run in Melbourne.

The “Swiss Miss” demonstrated why she won five grand slam singles titles between 1997 and 1999 with superb shot-making and clever angles.

The 25-year-old Hingis sealed the first set after chasing down a Kirilenko volley to whip a backhand down the line and she quickly seized control of the second.

Former Wimbledon champion Sharapova was never seriously threatened by Stosur and the world number four promised to attack Hingis in their semi-final.

“Obviously, I’ve never played her before so I’m really excited,” said the 18-year-old Sharapova, who briefly held the number one ranking last year.

“I’ll try to attack her serve because I think that’s one of her weaknesses. She reads the game so well so I’ll try not to give her the time she needs.”

Sharapova has won 10 titles on the women’s WTA Tour and almost $5 million in prize money while Hingis has collected 40 titles and $18.5 million.

Second seed Elena Dementieva beat number five Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 3-6 6-1 6-2 and takes on fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina in Saturday’s semifinals.

Former French Open champion Myskina, the fourth seed in Tokyo, eliminated seventh-seeded compatriot Elena Likhovtseva 4-6 6-2 6-3.

Five Russians made the quarterfinals, the most since six reached the last eight on home soil at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow last October.

Quarterfinal results:

Anastasia Myskina bt Elena Likhovtseva 4-6 6-2 6-3; Elena Dementieva bt Nicole Vaidisova 3-6 6-1 6-2; Martina Hingis bt Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-1; Maria Sharapova bt Samantha Stosur 6-1 6-4.

Delray Beach results

DELRAY BEACH (Florida): Results from the Delray Beach International men’s singles second matches on Thursday.

Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Andrei Pavel (Romania) 6-7(1) 6-1 7-5; Vince Spadea (United States) bt Robert Kendrick (United States) 6-4 6-1; Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) bt Jeff Salzenstein (United States) 6-3 6-4; Hyung-Taik Lee (South Korea) bt Simon Greul (Germany) 2-6 6-3 6-4.

Vina del Mar results

VINA DEL MAR (Chile): Results on Thursday in the Vina del Mar ATP tournament:

Second round: Jose Acasuso (ARG) bt Gustavo Marcaccio (ARG) 6-1, 6-1; Boris Paschanski (SEM x8) bt Alessio Di Mauro (ITA) 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-0; Leos Friedl (CZE) bt Jorge Aguilar (CHI) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.—Agencies