|
|
|
| August 05, 2007 | Sunday | Rajab 20, 1428 |
Chakvetadze surprises Venus to reach semi-finals
CARLSBAD (California), Aug 4: Anna Chakvetadze maintained her good run of form on US hard courts when she staved off a match point before stunning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the San Diego Classic on Friday.
The third seeded Russian will meet defending champion Maria Sharapova for a place in the final after the top seed demolished India's Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-1.
Swiss 11th seed Patty Schnyder also advanced with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 victory over fourth seed Nadia Petrova to set up a match against another Russian, Elena Dementieva, who overcame compatriot Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4.
Venus did maintain her composure long enough to serve for the contest at 5-3 in the second set and even held a match point, but she wasted the opportunity with a double fault.
Chakvetadze then made a strong charge, easily winning the second set tiebreaker 7-3 when Williams missed an easy forehand.
Williams, who was watched courtside by her sister, Serena, had nothing left in the third set, strewing errors all over the court.
Chakvetadze won the match when she pasted a 105 mph service winner.
India's Sania came into the match loaded with confidence after reaching the final of the Stanford Classic last week and having beaten eighth seed Dinara Safina in the previous round here.
But she had trouble returning Sharapova's serves and watched the Russian tear apart her second serve.
Sharapova was in control for the entire match, with Sania winning only 40 percent of her service points.
Friday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Quarter-finals: 3-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) beat 10-Venus Williams (US) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; 9-Elena Dementieva (Russia) beat Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-2, 6-4; 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Sania Mirza (India) 6-2, 6-1; 11-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat 4-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 6-4, 6-4.
WASHINGTON: Andy Roddick rolled into the semi-finals of the Washington Open but second seed Tommy Haas and number three Marat Safin were ousted on Friday from the US Open tune-up.
Roddick fired 16 aces to defeat South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik for the 10th time in 11 career meetings, 7-6, 6-2.
In Saturday's semis, Roddick was facing Ivo Karlovic, the hard-serving Croatian who escaped with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 quarter-final victory over Paul Capdeville of Chile.
Haas went out to 416th-ranked John Isner, a 6 ft 9 ins American playing in just his second ATP event. Isner blasted 30 aces to subdue the German 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 in a two-hour, 27-minute match on a steamy day in Washington.
Next up for Isner will be Frenchman Gael Monfils, the ninth seed who recorded 14 aces to beat Safin 6-3, 7-5.Isner, a crowd favourite in underdog-loving Washington, won his third-set tiebreak 7-5 when Haas could not control a blistering serve to his backhand.
A finalist in the 2007 NCAA singles tournament with the University of Georgia, Isner has won all four of his matches this week by clinching third-set tiebreaks.
He opened with a victory over Britain's Tim Henman before toppling Benjamin Becker of Germany and American qualifier Wayne Odesnik.
Haas, ranked 12th in the world, was playing in his first tournament since withdrawing prior to his fourth-round match at Wimbledon with a torn stomach muscle.
Friday’s results:
Quarter-finals: 1-Andy Roddick (US) beat 5-Lee Hyung-taik (South Korea) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2; 7-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) beat Paul Capdeville (Chile) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); 9-Gael Monfils (France) beat 3-Marat Safin (Russia) 6-3, 7-5; John Isner (US) beat 2-Tommy Haas (Germany) 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5).
SOPOT (Poland): Second seed Tommy Robredo battled to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 quarter-final victory over Austrian Stefan Koubek at the Polish Open on Friday.
The Spanish claycourt specialist, who faces Gilles Simon of France in Saturday's semi-finals, had to fight hard to win a tough match lasting over two hours.
The left-handed Austrian stunned Robredo by taking the first set but the Spaniard, a winner here in 2001, levelled the match after being 3-0 down and breezed through the third set.
His next opponent Simon, ranked 49 in the world, beat Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5 in a match between two unseeded players.
The Russian, who beat American Andy Roddick in the first round of the French Open this year, proved to be a tough opponent who played very well from the baseline.
Saturday's other semi-final featured Albert Montanes of Spain up against Argentina's Jose Acasuso.
The unseeded Acasuso beat seventh seed Florian Mayer of Germany 7-6, 6-3 after each player's serve was broken twice in a first set decided on a tiebreak which the Argentine, who was the Polish Open champion in 2002, won 7-4.
The 27-year-old Montanes, ranked 51 in the world, outlasted another Argentine, Martin Vassallo Arguello, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Friday’s results:
Quarter-finals: 2-Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Stefan Koubek (Austria) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1; Gilles Simon (France) beat Igor Andreev (Russia) 6-4, 7-5; Jose Acasuso (Argentina) beat 7-Florian Mayer (Germany) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; Albert Montanes (Spain) beat Martin Vassallo Arguello (Argentina) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.—Reuters
|
|
|
|
