NEWPORT (Rhode Island), July 11 Two-time defending champion Fabrice Santoro won back-to-back matches on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the rain-hit 500,000 dollar ATP Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
Both the second and quarter-final rounds were completed on Friday due to a number of weather delays.
France's Santoro defeated American Taylor Dent 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the second round before registering a 6-4, 6-4 win over countryman Nicolas Mahut later in the day on the grass courts.
Mahut cruised past American journeyman Alex Bogomolov 6-2, 6-2 in the second round.
Santoro's next faces third-seeded American Sam Querrey in the semi-finals.
Querrey rallied to beat Prakash Amritraj 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 6-2, in the second round, then breezed past seventh-seeded American Kevin Kim, 6-3, 6-4. Kim stopped German Daniel Brands, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, in the second round.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding)
Quarter-finals 2-Fabrice Santoro (France) bt Nicolas Mahut (France) 6-4, 6-4; 3-Sam Querrey (US) bt 7-Kevin Kim (US) 6-3, 6-4; Rajeev Ram (US) bt Jesse Levine (US) 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); Olivier Rochus (Belgium) bt Brendan Evans (US) 6-4, 6-4.
Second round 2-Fabrice Santoro (France) bt Taylor Dent (US) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 3-Sam Querrey (US) bt Prakash Amritraj (India) 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 6-2; Jesse Levine (US) bt 6-Philipp Petzschner (Germany) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; 7-Kevin Kim (US) bt Daniel Brands (Germany) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; Olivier Rochus (Belgium) bt 8-Sergiy
Stakhovsky (Ukraine) 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3; Rajeev Ram (US) bt Samuel Groth (Australia) 6-4, 6-2; Nicolas Mahut (France) bt Alex Bogomolov (US) 6-2, 6-2; Brendan Evans (US) bt Robby Ginepri (US) 6-3, 6-4.
WOZNIACKI, SANCHEZ IN FINAL
BASTAD (Sweden) Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki beat Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on Friday to reach the Swedish Open final for the first time.
Wozniacki will play unseeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the final. Martinez Sanchez defeated Gisela Dulko 7-5, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
Ninth-ranked Wozniacki broke Pennetta's serve twice in the third set, wrapping up the match on her second match point when the Italian player netted a backhand return.
“I was a little bit tired yesterday but I felt stronger in my legs today,” Wozniacki said Pennetta, seeded third in the clay-court tournament, forced a decisive set when she broke Wozniacki's serve in the 10th game of the second set, hitting a superb volley that the Dane could not return.
It was the first time in four matches that Wozniacki dropped a set in the tournament.
Wozniacki has won five WTA titles, including two this year - at Ponte Vedra and Eastbourne. She reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.
The final will be the first meeting between Martinez Sanchez and Wozniacki.
Results
Semi-finals 1-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) bt 3-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spain) bt Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 7-5, 6-4.
SZAVAY, BONDARENKO
make SEMIS
BUDAPEST (Hungary) Fourth-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary defeated qualifier Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-2, 6-3 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Budapest Grand Prix.
Szavay won the last four games of the first set after breaking Bacsinszky for a 3-2 lead, and continued to control the play in the second.
Szavay will next face sixth-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine, who trailed 5-1 against Shahar Peer of Israel before winning 10 games in a row for a 7-5, 6-1 win.
Peer missed seven set points and seemed deflated in the second after the missed opportunities.Edina Gallovits of Romania also advanced by beating Petra Martic of Croatia, 6-3, 7-6 (6), while the last quarter-final between top-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and fifth-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia was suspended because of rain with Schnyder leading 4-3 in the first set.
Results
Quarter-finals 6-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) bt Shahar Peer (Israel) 7-5, 6-1; Edina Gallovits (Romania) bt Petra Martic (Croatia) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6); 4-Agnes Szavay (Hungary) bt Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) 6-2, 6-3; 1-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) leads 5-Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) 4-3 - rain; to be completed.—Agencies
