Venus Williams' hopes of qualifying for the year-end WTA Championships took a hit Friday when the No. 7 seed was easily beaten in Moscow by unseeded Russian Elena "Lena" Bovina 6-3, 6-2.
Venus has lost in the quarterfinals or earlier in nine out of 13 events this year, winning two minor titles in Charleston and Warsaw.
"No loss is a lot of fun," said Venus, who kicked in 10 double faults over the two sets. "My serve wasn't there the way I wanted it to be today."
The loss leaves fellow American and newly-minted No. 1
Lindsay Davenport (d. Schiavone in the quarters) to fend for herself in the semifinals against three Russians in Bovina, No. 3 seed
Anastasia Myskina (d. (6) Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva in three), and No. 5
Elena Dementieva (d. (4) Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 in a turn-around of the US Open final).
Saturday's semifinal match-ups are (3) Myskina vs. (2) Davenport (American leads meetings 4-0, 8-0 in sets), and Bovina vs. (5) Dementieva in an all-Russian (Dementieva leads 4-2).
