No. 1 seed
Nadia Petrova jacked up unseeded Spaniard
Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3, 6-0 Friday to advance into the semifinals at the WTA stop in Amelia Island, the kick-off to the 2006 claycourt season.
"I was prepared for a long match today," Petrova said. "The less time I had to spend on court, the better. I was trying to make the points shorter and save some energy."
No. 5 seed
Svetlana Kuznetsova, fresh off her Miami title, recorded the lone upset of the day with a 6-3, 6-1 stomping of No. 2 seed
Patty Schnyder.
"She played great today and from the start I was not there," Schnyder said. "I couldn't feel the ball as well as I would like to. I was not happy with the strings at all. I couldn't get the racket strung the way I wanted it."
Other winners into the semis Friday were No. 3 seed
Francesca Schiavone (d. (7) Groenefeld) and No. 15 seed
Lucie Safarova (d. Craybas).
Saturday's semifinal match-ups are (3) Schiavone vs. (5) Kuznetsova, and (1) Petrova vs. (15) Safarova.
