Sharapova, Clijsters, Vaidisova Into San Diego Semis
Posted on August 5, 2006SAN DIEGO, CA, USA -- After dropping the opening set and going down 2-0 in the second set of her quarterfinal match against Anna Chakvetadze, who had already sent Nadia Petrova and Ana Ivanovic packing earlier this week, things didn't seem too bright for Nicole Vaidisova. But she stuck around, toughing out a 36 64 63 win, a win that assured her of a Top 10 debut when the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings come out Monday.
Vaidisova, the No.7 seed at the $1,340,000 Acura Classic, was broken twice during the 37-minute first set, and again in the first game of the second set, but turned things around by cutting down on the errors and playing big points better, gaining the critical break in the fourth game of the final set and holding the rest of the way.
"I don't think it could have gotten much worse than that," said the 17-year-old Czech on the one-set, 2-0 second set deficit. "But I think it would have been even tougher and a little bit of a different story if I was down 3-0 and two breaks."
The victory not only sends Vaidisova into her career-first Tier I semifinal, her only other semifinal of comparable size being her final four showing at Roland Garros this year, it also gives her a projected No.9 ranking for next Monday, a Top 10 debut. She will be the 12th-youngest player since the inception of the computer rankings over 30 years ago to crack the Top 10, at 17 years, three months and two weeks old.
Also reaching the Acura Classic semifinals Friday were Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Patty Schnyder, all of whom won straight set quarterfinals.
Clijsters, the top seed, survived a tight first set but cruised in the second set of her match against No.8 seed Martina Hingis, 75 62. The Belgian squandered a 4-2 lead in the first set but clinched it on consecutive Hingis groundstroke errors serving at 6-5. After going ahead 3-2 in the second, she won 12 of 16 points to end the match; it was her third victory in three 2006 meetings against the recently-returned former No.1, a two-time champion here.
"When you play Martina, you have to win the points against her; she won't hit you off the court," said Clijsters, who is 23-0 in summer hardcourt matches since falling to Peng Shuai in this very match last year. "It's up to me to be aggressive, to go for the winners. It's why you take the risk and make a few more errors."
Sharapova had a much easier time in her match against Mary Pierce, cruising past the defending champion, 62 63, in one hour, eight minutes. The No.2-seeded Russian teen blasted eight aces and did not lose her service once the entire match, while Pierce, playing her first tournament in nearly six months, was nowhere near as impressive on serve, winning less than a quarter of second serve points and giving up four breaks.
"I thought I played solid," said Sharapova, now 3-1 against the Frenchwoman, having won their last three encounters. "First set I got up a break and felt I was returning really well. But she's always dangerous. She's a pretty big hitter."
"It was encouraging; it didn't feel too bad," Pierce said. "I'm confident that within a couple of weeks I'll be feeling pretty good about myself and my game. It would have been nice, of course, to defend my title and win here, but I did my best."
In a mild upset, a No.5-seeded Schnyder ousted No.4 seed Elena Dementieva, 64 63, in one hour, 21 minutes. The victory broke the head-to-head tie between the two players, with the Swiss now leading that series, 6-5. She is now through to her third straight semifinal on American hardcourts, having finished a semifinalist in Cincinnati two weeks ago and a runner-up last week in Stanford.
Saturday's afternoon line-up begins at 1pm local time, and includes the singles semi between Sharapova and Schnyder and a doubles semi between No.2 seeds Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs and No.7 seeds Dinara Safina and Katarina Srebotnik. The night session, which begins at 7pm, sees Clijsters taking on Vaidisova and top doubles seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur facing No.4 seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Meghann Shaughnessy.
-- WTA
Vaidisova, the No.7 seed at the $1,340,000 Acura Classic, was broken twice during the 37-minute first set, and again in the first game of the second set, but turned things around by cutting down on the errors and playing big points better, gaining the critical break in the fourth game of the final set and holding the rest of the way.
"I don't think it could have gotten much worse than that," said the 17-year-old Czech on the one-set, 2-0 second set deficit. "But I think it would have been even tougher and a little bit of a different story if I was down 3-0 and two breaks."
The victory not only sends Vaidisova into her career-first Tier I semifinal, her only other semifinal of comparable size being her final four showing at Roland Garros this year, it also gives her a projected No.9 ranking for next Monday, a Top 10 debut. She will be the 12th-youngest player since the inception of the computer rankings over 30 years ago to crack the Top 10, at 17 years, three months and two weeks old.
Also reaching the Acura Classic semifinals Friday were Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Patty Schnyder, all of whom won straight set quarterfinals.
Clijsters, the top seed, survived a tight first set but cruised in the second set of her match against No.8 seed Martina Hingis, 75 62. The Belgian squandered a 4-2 lead in the first set but clinched it on consecutive Hingis groundstroke errors serving at 6-5. After going ahead 3-2 in the second, she won 12 of 16 points to end the match; it was her third victory in three 2006 meetings against the recently-returned former No.1, a two-time champion here.
"When you play Martina, you have to win the points against her; she won't hit you off the court," said Clijsters, who is 23-0 in summer hardcourt matches since falling to Peng Shuai in this very match last year. "It's up to me to be aggressive, to go for the winners. It's why you take the risk and make a few more errors."
Sharapova had a much easier time in her match against Mary Pierce, cruising past the defending champion, 62 63, in one hour, eight minutes. The No.2-seeded Russian teen blasted eight aces and did not lose her service once the entire match, while Pierce, playing her first tournament in nearly six months, was nowhere near as impressive on serve, winning less than a quarter of second serve points and giving up four breaks.
"I thought I played solid," said Sharapova, now 3-1 against the Frenchwoman, having won their last three encounters. "First set I got up a break and felt I was returning really well. But she's always dangerous. She's a pretty big hitter."
"It was encouraging; it didn't feel too bad," Pierce said. "I'm confident that within a couple of weeks I'll be feeling pretty good about myself and my game. It would have been nice, of course, to defend my title and win here, but I did my best."
In a mild upset, a No.5-seeded Schnyder ousted No.4 seed Elena Dementieva, 64 63, in one hour, 21 minutes. The victory broke the head-to-head tie between the two players, with the Swiss now leading that series, 6-5. She is now through to her third straight semifinal on American hardcourts, having finished a semifinalist in Cincinnati two weeks ago and a runner-up last week in Stanford.
Saturday's afternoon line-up begins at 1pm local time, and includes the singles semi between Sharapova and Schnyder and a doubles semi between No.2 seeds Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs and No.7 seeds Dinara Safina and Katarina Srebotnik. The night session, which begins at 7pm, sees Clijsters taking on Vaidisova and top doubles seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur facing No.4 seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Meghann Shaughnessy.
-- WTA