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| February 12, 2006 | Sunday | Muharram 13, 1427 |
Mauresmo in semifinals
PARIS, Feb 11: Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo led a home team assault on the semifinals at the Paris Indoor Open with a 6-2, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Russia’s Dinara Safina on Friday.
The top seed was joined in the last four by compatriots second seed Mary Pierce, who defeated another local hope Emilie Loit 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4), and Tatiana Golovin, the 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 victor over Russian number three seed Nadia Petrova.
Swizerland’s Patty Schnyder, the number four seed, completed the semi-final cast list when seeing off Elena Dementieva, the fifth seed, 6-3, 6-3.
Maursemo was exacting revenge on Marat Safin’s sister who had upset her in last year’s final at the Stade Pierre Coubertin.
“I wanted to take revenge, and was able to assert my game even if the score doesn’t really reflect the way the match went,” said Maursemo.
Saturday’s semis sees Golovin taking on Maursemo and Pierce up against Schnyder.
Quarterfinals results:
Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) bt Dinara Safina (RUS) 6-2, 6-2; Mary Pierce (FRA) bt Emilie Loit (FRA) 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4); Tatiana Golovin (FRA) bt Nadia Petrova (RUS) 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3; Patty Schnyder (SUI) bt Elena Dementieva (RUS) 6-3, 6-3.
Peer, Kostanic IN FINAL
PATTAYA (Thailand): Shahar Peer overcame Austrian Sybille Bammer 7-5, 6-3 to reach her first career final at the Pattaya Open on Saturday, and will face another left-hander for the title after Jelena Kostanic upset fifth seeded Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-3, 6-3.
Peer was the more consistent player once she settled.
The 18-year old Israeli broke in the opening game, but allowed Bammer to claim the next three games before sweeping the next four to establish a 5-3 lead.
Peer failed to serve out the set at 5-4, but earned a second opportunity by breaking again to lead 6-5.
In the second set, Peer crucially held off four break points to lead 4-2 before going on to victory.
Kostanic also played a more consistent match than her opponent, making few unforced errors and hitting the ball deep, even on her excellent second serve.
The Croat made a perfect start by taking a 3-0 lead. She also held two points to lead 4-0 but instead dropped her own serve before breaking again for the set. In the second set, Kostanic broke to lead 3-1 when Llagostera Vives double-faulted.
Kostanic was aware that, although she had won the opening set with ease in her previous two matches, she had then struggled to win in three sets.
Semifinal results:
Jelena Kostanic (Croatia) bt Nuria Llagostera (Spain) 6-3 6-3; Shahar Peer (Israel) bt Sybille Bammer (Austria) 7-5 6-3.
—Agencies
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