Austrian Teen Run Continues at WTA Portoroz

Paszek had arguably the toughest task of all on Friday in facing wild card Andreja Klepac, who was coming off a victory over No.5 seed Romina Oprandi, and would have the loud support of her Slovenian home crowd behind her. But the 15-year-old Austrian hung tough, remaining calm even after allowing a 4-2 opening set lead to disappear, eventually rediscovering her aggressive range and cruising to victory in straights, 64 62.

"The key to the match was at the end of the first set, when she broke me back to get it to 4-all, but I just refocused and kept going," said Paszek, who is playing in just her third Tour main draw. "It was a tough game. She played really well. We had some tough exchanges, and it was a great match. It was a tough game for the mind, too, because I was against the crowd and not only my opponent. But I'm happy with my game, and happy here in Slovenia."

The win was Paszek's sixth of the week, having won three to qualify for the main draw and three more since. Despite the long road, she remained confident on her Portoroz prospects heading into her first ever Tour semifinal.

"I've played this many matches in a junior tournament before; of course, this is a totally different category. The players are playing so well, so each match is a tough one. But, I won't change anything. I'll try to play my game, focus, and we'll see what happens. Physically, I feel good. I hope to have some reserve left."

Next up for Paszek will be No.7 seed Emilie Loit, who reached her third semifinal of the season with a comprehensive, 63 63 victory over No.9-seeded Jarmila Gajdosova. The crafty French veteran will be playing Paszek for the first time.

"I feel very good," Loit said. "I love this tournament. It's a nice place, nice food, and everything is just perfect. I'm happy to be in the semis, and I'll do my best. Paszek is very young; I'll watch her quarterfinal and we'll see how it goes."

A pair of feisty Italians gained berths in the other semifinal Friday, as No.6 seed Maria Elena Camerin regrouped in the third set to beat unseeded Slovak Martina Sucha, 75 57 61, and No.8 seed Tathiana Garbin posted a 62 75 victory over the highest seed remaining in the draw, No.4 seed Martina M? Camerin's victory over Sucha lasted over three hours.

"I practice almost every day for that long, so it was okay, and this is my work," Camerin said. "I was fighting a lot in the last set. Mentally, I was able to win. It will be tough to play Garbin; she is my friend, and it's hard to not think about who you are playing. But, I think you'll all enjoy our match tomorrow."

"Every round I'm playing better, so I'm happy," Garbin said. "I live very close by, and I can speak Italian here, so it's really good to be here. My family lives two hours away by car, so they come every day. You have your family around, it's great. Maria Elena is also my friend, I am looking forward to playing her. As I'm getting older, I've been trying to play less tournaments to make each one special. I'm just trying to have fun on court."

This is the second staging of the Banka Koper Slovenia Open. In the event's first year in 2005, Slovenian star Katarina Srebotnik fell to Czech Klara Zakopalova in the final. This year, both were ousted in the first round, Srebotnik by Sucha and Zakopalova by Garbin.
-- WTA