Venus, Capriati Eliminated From WTA Championships; Safin Wins in Paris

Posted on November 6, 2004

Safin in Fine Form Over Hewitt at ATP Masters Series Paris

No. 6 seed Marat Safin brought his "A" game Friday in defeating No. 2 seed Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets in a battle of former No. 1s to advance to the semifinals at the ATP Masters Series-Paris.

"I mean, nothing was going wrong," Safin said. "He just played his best tennis. I was just maybe a little bit rushing, so I had to remain focused.

Joining the big Russian in the semis were (13)Guillermo Canas (d. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez), and un-seeds Radek Stepanek (d. Youzhny), and Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. Robin Soderling 7-6 in the third, saving match points).

Saturday's match-up in the semis are (13) Canas vs. (6) Safin (Argentine leads meetings 2-1), and (Q) The Beast vs. (Q) Stepanek (first meeting).

Capriati, Venus Knocked Out of WTA Championships

Americans Jennifer Capriati and Venus Williams were eliminated from the WTA Championships Friday with losses at Philadelphia.

The No. 5-seeded Venus was outlasted 6-1 in the third by top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, while the No. 4-seeded Capriati put on a choking clinic in a 6-0, 6-1 loss to No. 6 seed Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva, who kept her championship hopes alive.

"It was a story of my errors," Williams said. "I'm always putting play forward, which is the style of my game."

Also into the semis were two more Russians in (3) Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova (d. (8) Molik in three) and (7) Nadia Petrova (d. countrywoman (2) Myskina in three).

On Saturday in the semifinals are (6) The Crying Game vs. (7) Petrova in an all-Russian (Petrova leads career meetings 1-0), and (1) Mauresmo vs. (3) Sharapova (first meeting).

Pierce Upset by Jidkova at WTA Quebec City

The WTA stop in Quebec City went seedless Friday when Russian Alina Jidkova defeated the final remaining seed, No. 1 Mary Pierce, to gain the semifinals.

Joining Jidkova were (Q) Abigail Spears (d. Kurhajcova), Martina Sucha (d. Karatantcheva in three), and Maria-Emilia Salerni (d. (Q) Gloria).

Saturday's semifinals match-up as Jidkova vs. (Q) Spears, and Sucha vs. Salerni.

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