Hamburg Chokers Into Semis; Hingis v Venus at Rome

Posted on May 20, 2006

Hingis v Venus Saturday at WTA Rome

Still looking for her first title in the midst of her 2006 comeback, this week's unseeded Martina Hingis will crack the Top 20 next week on the WTA Rankings after Friday upsetting No. 15 seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-1 at Rome to set up a semifinal meeting with Venus Williams.

"In the beginning stages it wasn't so easy," Hingis said. "But she had a lot of tough matches in the previous round so maybe she was a little tired."

The No. 9-seeded Williams was forced to come back from a set down to defeat unseeded Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, with the Serb choking an opportunity to serve out the second set at 5-4 before then collapsing in the third.

"She played really well, and it was difficult to play last night and then come out here again this afternoon," Williams said. "In the first set I made far too many mistakes."

Also into the semis were No. 7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova who barely ended the run of homecountry Italian qualifier Romina Oprandi 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4), and another Russian in No. 16 Dinara Safina who followed up her win over Kim Clijsters with a 6-1, 6-1 brutalization of No. 5-seeded countrywoman Elena Dementieva.

"She was hitting balls where I was not expecting," said Kuznetsova of Oprandi, who lost the first set after leading 5-2, then won the second set after trailing 1-4. "There were amazing drop shots and amazing lines."

Saturday's semifinal match-ups will be (9) Venus vs. Hingis (tied 10-10 with Venus winning their last three), and (7) Kuznetsova vs. (16) Safina (tied 2-2) in an all-Russian.

"I think the tournament is really open now," Safina said. "It's just a matter of who fights more and has more eagerness to win. It will be a great match against Kuzy. We know each other very well."

Acasuso, Cast of Odd-Balls Into ATP Hamburg Semis

Argentine Jose Acasuso continued his hot streak Friday at the Masters Series-Hamburg, despite some second-set nerves, defeating Spaniard Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-3 to gain his career-first Masters Series semifinal.

"I have been playing well since the beginning of the year," said Acasuso, who won his first title of the year February on clay at Vina del Mar. "In my two previous Masters on clay, in Monte Carlo and Rome, I lost in the second round but I had chances in both matches. So I knew that a week like this would come around for me. But obviously I want to take advantage of this moment because I don't want to stop here."

No. 12 seed Mario Ancic orchestrated another magical comeback similar to his win earlier in the week over James Blake, coming from a set and a break down after No. 4 seed Nikolay Davydenko visibly tightened up for a 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 win.

"A win is a win," Ancic said. "It doesn't matter how it comes. Though it would be nice to get off the court a bit faster. But these are Top 10 guys and you have to expect hard matches if you are going to come out the winner."

Davydenko afterwards confirmed the choke.

"I'm shocked I lost this match," Davydenko said. "I lost concentration in the second set and he broke back. He was fighting and fighting. I lost confidence after the tiebreak. In my head I was a bit crazy. Sometimes he was hitting balls and I didn't know how."

Also into the semifinals were No. 15 seed Radek Stepanek who dispatched of the serve-and-volleying Max "The Beast" Mirnyi 7-6(5), 6-1, and No. 8 seed Tommy Robredo who beat his choking Spanish countryman David Ferrer, seeded No. 16, 7-6(8), 6-4.

Ferrer led 6-1 in the first-set tiebreak before blowing seven set points to drop the set.

Saturday's match-ups are Acasuso vs. (15) Stepanek, (8) Robredo vs. (12) Ancic, (1) the Bryan brothers vs. (3) Knowles/Nestor, and (4) Hanley/Ullyett vs. (5) Santoro/Zimonjic.

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