Dementieva Downs Clijsters; Doubles Back on in Madrid

Dementieva Dumps Clijsters; Davenport, Mauresmo Advance

Russian Elena Dementieva put a stop to Kim Clijsters’ 21-match win streak on Friday edging the Belgian 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The win puts Dementieva into the semifinals alongside Lindsay Davenport, Amelie Mauresmo and Daniela “The Player Formerly Known as Stick Girl” Hantuchova.

The US Open champ Clijsters held a 7-1 advantage over her fellow-blond and hadn’t even dropped a set in four years.

"That’s the best she’s ever played against me," said Clijsters, who could have returned to the No. 1 ranking with a title this week. "When she’s on, she hits the ball harder than anyone on the Tour and I think you could see today her serve has improved a lot too. She’s always very dangerous... I think for me it was one match too much physically. I’ve done really well the last few weeks and months to keep playing as well as I have and I had to have a let down at some point."

Said Dementieva: "I played the best match of my career. Kim is such a tough player. It’s great for my confidence because the last five years I’ve had problems playing her and couldn’t win, so today is really a big victory for me. I was smiling so much on the court because we were having unbelievable rallies, hitting the ball hard and moving each other around."

Meanwhile, top-seeded Davenport kept her own hopes for a third Filderstadt title alive with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over No. 8 seed Anastasia Myskina.

"It was a strange match with lots of ups and downs from both of us," Davenport said. "I started off really well, but from 3-all in the second set, I missed a few and she stepped it up. I got off to a good start at the beginning of the third, and I think that settled the matter. Her level dropped again and I was able to take advantage."

Next up for Davenport will be the unseeded Hantuchova, a 6-3, 6-4 victor over Italy's Flavia “Of the Week” Pennetta.

Third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo rounds out the final four after a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over No.6 seed Nadia Petrova.

Mirza Pops Top-seeded Zvonareva at WTA Tokyo

India's top cat Sania Mirza reinforced her up-and-coming status Friday at the Japan Open in Tokyo, with the No. 8 seed overcoming a set deficit to stun top-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

"I had my chances in the first set, and it could've been straight sets, but she played so well when it counted," said Mirza after reaching her third semifinal of the year. "I think I played one of my best matches. She's the No.1 seed, and I'm happy that I was able to play my game."

Mirza advances into the final four where she will face another higher-seeded foe in No. 3 Tatiana “Hot Shorts” Golovin who also came from a set down to defeat the crowd-supported No. 5 seed, Japan's Ai Sugiyama 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Other players into the semis were No. 2-seeded 16-year-old Nicole “In” Vaidisova (d. (Q) Arvidsson from a set down) and No. 4-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko (d. Craybas in three) which makes for a rare all-teen semifinal with plenty of the photographers courtside.

Lining up for the Saturday semis are (4) Kirilenko vs. (2) Vaidisova, and (8) Mirza vs. (3) Golovin.

Bych of a Run for Russian at WTA Tashkent

Top-seeded Russian Ekaterina Bychkova struggled to retain her status Friday at the WTA stop in Tashkent, coming from a set down to edge Russian wildcard Evgenia Rodina 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 to advance into the semifinals.

"First, I had to overcome myself, then my opponent," said Bychkova. "I was not able to control the ball, adjust to the bounce. I was only pushing the ball, never hitting it. Thank God my serve worked. That really helped me."

The Russian was joined in the winner's circle Friday by (5) Michaella Krajicek (d. K.Bondarenko), (7) Maria Elena Camerin (d. (3) Ant.Serra Zanetti), and Uzbek wildcard Akgul Amanmuradova (d. Vesnina 7-6 in the third).

Ancic, Nieminen Headline ATP Tokyo Semifinals

No. 7 seed Jarkko Nieminen (d. (9) Srichaphan, saving eight match points, then (4) Dent, both 7-6 in the third) and unseeded South African Weslie Moodie “Blues” (d. (11) Horna in three, then (2) Stepanek in two tiebreaks) braved the rain-backed-up schedule Friday at the ATP stop in Tokyo, winning two matches to advance into the semifinals.

"It's too bad to lose the match like this," said Srichaphan, whose eight match points were all in the second set against Nieminen. "I was up all the way, up a set and a break, and had eight match points. Suddenly my opponent was playing well at that point. He was playing hard. He was playing better than me at the end."

Stepanek (d. K.Kim) and Dent (d. Arthurs in three) had also won third-round matches before their quarterfinal losses.

Also into the semis were (5) Mario Ancic (d. Baghdatis), and unseeded German Bjorn Phau (d. (3) Ginepri). Phau delivered five aces and converted on all four of his break opportunities in the straight-set win over Ginepri, advancing to his career-first ATP semifinal.

"I didn't expect to win this match because Robby's played well the past few months," Phau said. "I've wanted to go out and fight all week, that's what I've done."

Saturday's match-ups are (5) Ancic vs. Phau, and (7) Nieminen vs. Moodie.

Top Seed Davydenko Unstoppable in Metz

Top seed Nikolay Davydenko continued to roll at the the 2005 Open de Moselle, following a 6-3, 6-1 pasting over Italian Andreas Seppi.

The 58-minute win put the vanilla-ish Davydenko against Gael “Force” Monfils, who ousted countrymen and fellow teen Richard Gasquet 7-6(3), 6-2 in the semifinals.

Said Monfils: ”I am happy about this result. I however don't see it as revenge from last year. Richard is my friend and I think and hope we will have many more matches to play against each other. When I came back from 3-5 in the first set, I think he may have rushed a little and lost his concentration. It was only a few key points that turned around the situation.”

In the other semifinal, Ivan Ljubicic and Dominik Hrbaty will lock-up. Ljubicic, a finalist this year Doha, Marseille, Rotterdam and Dubai, overcame a set deficit edge Robin Soderling 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 1 minute. Ljubicic never dropped his serve and fired 24 aces in the entire match.

Hrbaty also needed three sets to upend the suddenly rejuvenated Mark Philippoussis in the last quarterfinals of the day. The 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 win was Hrbaty’s first career win over the Australian.

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