Tennis: Petrova wins late match to move into semis

Nadia Petrova

Top seed Nadia Petrova of Russia has won through to the semifinal of the ASB Classic after a late night match over unseeded Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rico.

Petrova, ranked at No7 in the world, defeated the 85th ranked Brandi 6-1 6-2 in a match which started at 10.21pm after rain delays and ended at 11.31pm.

Petrova, 23 showed she meant business in the first set of the match with three aces in a row in the fourth game to put Brandi in her place.

The second set went serve for serve until the fifth game when Petrova held serve and then broke Brandi's serve to race away with the set and the match in front of a good sized crowd considering the rain delay of over three hours.

"It had been a long wait. When we walked on court it was hard to get myself going. In the end it was a comfortable win for me," said the top seed.

Petrova will now play sixth seed Marion Bartoli of France in the semifinals and is determined to add a second career singles title to her record.

"Bartoli is an unusual player with strange strokes. I will have to stay very concentrated to beat her."

The fans saw it all - the good, the bad and the ugly of top-level tennis - on quarter-finals day at the women's classic.

First-up yesterday was a titanic three-hour battle before second seed Daniela Hantuchova saw off brave qualifier Tzipora Obziler in the first of four ASB-sponsored encounters.

But any hope that the next two would produce the same excitement quickly disappeared as seeds Vera Zvonareva and Marion Bartoli needed less than an hour each to book their places in the Sovereign singles semifinals.

The all-Russian affair between eighth seed Zvonareva and 18-year-old fourth seed Maria Kirilenko promised plenty but delivered little. Kirilenko waltzed through the first game.

But she then won only eight further points on serve and just three more as her opponent raced to 6-2 inside 30 minutes.

The second set was even more embarrassing as Kirilenko was broken in the first, third and fifth games as Zvonareva roared home 6-0.

Asked whether she would have preferred more time on court in this early-season match, Zvonareva, 21, said: "That's exactly what I was looking for. I go on court to enjoy myself. I think I showed some really good tennis today."

On what she produced at the ASB Tennis Centre yesterday, Zvonareva will be real test for Hantuchova.

It was a no-nonsense display from the world No 36. Given her time on court compared to the 181 minutes Hantuchova had to battle through, the Russian is poised to make the final.

In a carbon copy of what had gone before, sixth seed Marion Bartoli was back in the locker room less than an hour after sending down her first serve against unseeded German Julia Schruff.

Struggling with a heavily bandaged right thigh, Schruff appeared to be some place else as she lost the first set 2-6 in 31 minutes.

The second set was even more lop-sided as Bartoli booked her third straight semifinal spot 6-0 in a quick-fire 17 minutes.

Bartoli dropped only one point on serve and just seven altogether as she raced into the last four.

Her victory levelled her match score with Schruff at 1-1 after losing their only previous encounter on clay.

"I served very well," said Bartoli, who won plenty of points by slicing her forehand away from her opponent.

"I went into the match knowing if I won it would give me a seeding for the Australian Open," said Bartoli, 21. "It was a completely different match than the others I have had."

In her two earlier matches she had to come from a set down against unseeded opponents.


TODAY'S SCHEDULE

Centrecourt

Sovereign Singles semifinal, midday start
(2) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) v (8) Vera Zvonareva (RUS)
followed by
(1) Nadia Petrova (RUS) v (6) Marion Bartoli (FRA)

Sovereign doubles semifinal
(1) Elena Likhovtseva (RUS)/Vera Zvonareva (RUS) v (3) Shinobu Asagoe (JPN)/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)

Court 4

Sovereign Doubles semifinal, midday start
Yulia Beygelzimer (UKR)/Mervana Jugic-Salkic (BIH) v (4) Emilie Loit (FRA)/Barbora Strycova (CZE)