Hingis Beats Kuzy, Back in Top 10

MONTREAL, Canada -- It was the match that everyone was waiting for since the draw came out, and except for the fact that it didn't go to three sets, it definitely lived up to expectations in terms of its quality. In front of a capacity crowd at Uniprix Stadium, comeback queen Martina Hingis announced her return to the world's Top 10 by taking out world No.7 Svetlana Kuznetsova, 76(4) 63, in a quarterfinal clash Friday night at the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank.

Hingis, the No.7 seed, hung tough with Kuznetsova in a tight first set, trading breaks three times with the No.4-seeded Russian before clinching it in the tie-break. The players were separated by merely one point in that opening set, Hingis edging Kuznetsova in that stat, 44-43. The Swiss Miss was in control from the beginning of the second set, cracking open numerous crosscourt rallies with pinpoint down-the-lines and drawing numerous errors from her opponent, eventually clinching the match in one hour, 34 minutes. The players were given a standing ovation upon match completion.

"She played some unbelievable points, then she had a few lacking shots; that gave me hope over and over again to come back into the match," said Hingis, who is now 2-1 versus Kuznetsova. "I knew I had to come up with the best in me so I did. Sometimes, she was looking for too much of a risk because she knew she had to go for the winner otherwise I would keep hitting it back."

"It's very disappointing for me; but still, I was dictating and it's good match preparation for the US Open," said Kuznetsova, who was playing her first tournament since Wimbledon and made it through two rounds before losing Friday. "I will take my notes and am not going to repeat these mistakes. If I would do a little bit less unforced errors I think the match was in my hands."

By virtue of reaching the semis, Hingis is also projected to make her Top 10 return on Monday's Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings, at No.10. It will be her first time inside the Top 10 since October 13, 2002, having spent just over six straight years ranked in the game's elite before dropping out on October 14.

"You don't want to squeeze in there by not doing anything on your own so it feels great to make it on my own," Hingis said. "It's great I can still handle myself, hold my own out there. This was kind of my secret goal; I was hoping for it because I'll get a better seed at the US Open."

Also reaching the final four were three of the Tour's most promising young stars, namely Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovic and Anna Chakvetadze, all of whom also advanced through their quarterfinal matches in straight sets on Friday.

Safina was the first to take the court at 11am and barely saw high noon at Uniprix Stadium, pummelling Nicole Pratt, 61 60, in just 48 minutes. The No.9-seeded Muscovite overpowered the Australian qualifier in every department, finishing with over twice as many points in the match (52-25). The second set was particularly lopsided; Pratt managed to win only seven points in six games.

"I'm glad that I could keep my nerves inside and play really solid today," said Safina, who is through to her third career Tier I semifinal. "The next match is going to be really tough; it will be a good match. And I'm going to have a look a little bit to see how they are playing."

"I'm very proud of my achievement this week," said Pratt, 33, who reached her career-first Tier I quarterfinal this week. "Unfortunately, today I just didn't have much energy out there and I was really struggling to get out for every point. But, all credit to Dinara. She didn't really give me a chance to get into the match."

Ivanovic and Chakvetadze notched tighter straight set wins on Friday. The No.13-seeded Ivanovic beat No.14 seed Katarina Srebotnik, 64 64, while Chakvetadze prevailed in a battle between unseeded players, edging Shahar Peer, 76(3) 75.

"I've put in a lot of hard work the last few weeks and months and I'm happy to see the results already coming," said Ivanovic, who is through to her second Tier I singles semifinal. "Today's match was not easy and I'm happy I took the opportunities I had. And playing semis here, it's a great feeling for me. Also I enjoyed the crowd. It's great and it's a very nice place to be."

"I am happy that I won in two sets because it could have been three sets and much tougher than it was," said Chakvetadze, who is through to her career-first Tier I semifinal. "It's the best result of my career, so I'm very happy, but I definitely want to be in the finals."

In addition to the singles quarterfinals, three doubles quarterfinals were played Friday. Top seeds and two-time Grand Slam winners Yan Zi and Zheng Jie were bounced in a late night match, 64 36 64, by Martina Navratilova and Nadia Petrova; No.3 seeds Kveta Peschke and Francesca Schiavone fell, 62 36 60, to Peer and Marion Bartoli; and No.4 seeds Safina and Srebotnik prevailed, 76(6) 36 62, over No.8 seeds Nathalie Dechy and Ai Sugiyama. The first quarterfinal was played Thursday; No.2 seeds Cara Black and Anna-Lena Groenefeld advanced.

On Saturday, Hingis will play Chakvetadze in the feature afternoon match while Safina takes on Ivanovic in the feature night match. Both doubles semis will also take center stage.
-- WTA