Asagoe Shocks Dementieva in WTA Tokyo Quarterfinals

Posted on February 4, 2005

The top four seeds were set for the semifinals at the WTA stop in Tokyo until unseeded homecountry favorite Shinobu Asagoe ruined the party Friday, defeating No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-4.

Moving into the semis in straight sets were world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport (d. Benesova), No. 2 seed and reigning Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova (d. countrywoman (6) Likhovtseva), and No. 3 seed and reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (8) Hantuchova in two tiebreaks).

"I put extra pressure on her second serve and I was in control on most points," Sharapova said. "I felt I could break any time. I know people are hungry to beat me after winning Wimbledon but I love beating them too."

Davenport dropped only three games in cruising past the unseeded Benesova.

"You never know on this surface what's going to happen," Davenport said. "But she threw in a lot of errors and that made the match even shorter."

Saturday's semifinals line up as Asagoe vs. (2) Sharapova (career meetings tied 1-1), and (1) Davenport vs. (3) Kuznetsova (Russian leads 1-0 with a win at last year's US Open).