Sania-Sybille show-off in semi-finals
Sunday, 29 July 2007
STANFORD, Jul 28 (AFP): Unseeded Sania Mirza of India punched her semi-final ticket at this US Open tuneup Friday with a straight-set victory over fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder.
Mirza downed her Swiss opponent 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 for her second straight upset this week. She bounced sixth-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France in the second round.
Mirza's victory over world No. 19 Golovin was her first over a top-20 player since she was sidelined by a knee injury in March.
Now she is aiming to add to her one WTA Tour title, which she won at Hyderabad in 2005.
Top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze booked her semi-final place, rallying th defeat seventh-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Chakvetadze has now won seven consecutive hardcourt matches and is in position to capture her second singles title in as many weeks.
"The first set I was really up and down," said Chakvetadze, who won in Cincinnati last week. "I felt like if I could hold my serve I could turn it around. I started playing more aggressively'', she added.
"Katarina was a little more aggressive than me in the first set. She made me run all over the court. In the second set I started serving well and returning better'', she said.
"I still think my game is up and down," she added. "I don't know why, but sometimes I don't concentrate like I should", she said.
Chakvetadze claimed her fifth career title and third this season Sunday in Cincy. Ranked eighth in the world, the 20-year-old also has claimed titles at Hobart and 's- Hertogenbosch this year.
In the semi-finals she'll play third-seeded Slovakian
Daniela Hantuchova, who advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 victory against qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
"She came out playing unbelievably well," Hantuchova said.
"I just had to be patient, just make her play every ball. I was very impressed by the way she played", she said.
In search of her third career singles title, the Slovakian has split four career meetings with Chakvetadze. Hantuchova won their only hardcourt meeting, 6-4, 6-1 in 2005 at Luxembourg.
Mirza's semi-final opponent is eighth seed Austrian Sybille Bammer, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 win over wild card Lilia Osterloh of the United States.
Osterloh, who attended Stanford University and delighted local fans with a win over Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli this week, failed to convert 11 of her 12 break chances.
"I was pretty exhausted after beating Bartoli," Osterloh said.
"Now it's just a matter of my physical fitness in playing against the top players", she added.
Bammer and Mirza have never played.
Mirza downed her Swiss opponent 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 for her second straight upset this week. She bounced sixth-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France in the second round.
Mirza's victory over world No. 19 Golovin was her first over a top-20 player since she was sidelined by a knee injury in March.
Now she is aiming to add to her one WTA Tour title, which she won at Hyderabad in 2005.
Top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze booked her semi-final place, rallying th defeat seventh-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Chakvetadze has now won seven consecutive hardcourt matches and is in position to capture her second singles title in as many weeks.
"The first set I was really up and down," said Chakvetadze, who won in Cincinnati last week. "I felt like if I could hold my serve I could turn it around. I started playing more aggressively'', she added.
"Katarina was a little more aggressive than me in the first set. She made me run all over the court. In the second set I started serving well and returning better'', she said.
"I still think my game is up and down," she added. "I don't know why, but sometimes I don't concentrate like I should", she said.
Chakvetadze claimed her fifth career title and third this season Sunday in Cincy. Ranked eighth in the world, the 20-year-old also has claimed titles at Hobart and 's- Hertogenbosch this year.
In the semi-finals she'll play third-seeded Slovakian
Daniela Hantuchova, who advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 victory against qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
"She came out playing unbelievably well," Hantuchova said.
"I just had to be patient, just make her play every ball. I was very impressed by the way she played", she said.
In search of her third career singles title, the Slovakian has split four career meetings with Chakvetadze. Hantuchova won their only hardcourt meeting, 6-4, 6-1 in 2005 at Luxembourg.
Mirza's semi-final opponent is eighth seed Austrian Sybille Bammer, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 win over wild card Lilia Osterloh of the United States.
Osterloh, who attended Stanford University and delighted local fans with a win over Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli this week, failed to convert 11 of her 12 break chances.
"I was pretty exhausted after beating Bartoli," Osterloh said.
"Now it's just a matter of my physical fitness in playing against the top players", she added.
Bammer and Mirza have never played.