Chakvetadze Rallies to Beat Venus; Sharapova Mauls Mirza

SAN DIEGO, CA, USA - All four of the Acura Classic quarterfinals took the courts of the La Costa Resort and Spa Friday but one stood out from the others as an instant classic, as Anna Chakvetadze rallied from a set and 5-3 down to beat one of the all-time greats, Venus Williams, to reach the semifinals.

Although she was the higher-ranked player - No.6 against No.16 - Chakvetadze had lost to Williams easily in both of their prior encounters, including just a few weeks ago in Fed Cup play. And she even stared directly into another straight set loss, dropping the first set after leading 5-2 then going down 5-3 in the second, with match point against her. But the 20-year-old never gave up, and in the end she extended her win streak to 12 matches, 67(5) 76(3) 62.

"It was the biggest win of my career," Chakvetadze said. "I was running in every point and fighting until the end, and I think that's why I won. I'm really happy I won, but I'm already thinking about my match tomorrow."

"I really wanted to win this match," Williams declared. "I felt like I could win it, but it didn't work out."

The nail-biting victory was a stark contrast to a comprehensive 61 64 loss three weeks ago in the Fed Cup semifinals.

"She just played better in Vermont," Chakvetadze said. "She won that match and I couldn't do anything. Here it was easier because I knew what I had to do, a game plan in my mind, and it helped that I played against her three weeks ago."

Awaiting the No.3-seeded Chakvetadze in the semis is top seed Maria Sharapova, who crushed an in-form Sania Mirza in the afternoon, 62 61. Mirza had notched a pair of Top 20 victories over Shahar Peer and Dinara Safina in making the last eight, but against the world No.2 she was no match, falling in just over an hour.

Sharapova is 4-0 against Chakvetadze, winning both of their matches this year in straight sets, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

"I've got to be aggressive and smart when I need to be smarter," Sharapova said about the looming semifinal. "She plays similarly to Hingis - she's very patient and doesn't give you a lot of easy points. I will have to step it up when I need to. We always have close ones but it has gone my way the last couple of times."

Squaring off for the second championship spot are No.9 seed Elena Dementieva and No.11 seed Patty Schnyder, both of whom beat higher-seeded players on Friday afternoon to reach the semifinals. Schnyder was the first to advance, taking out No.4 seed Nadia Petrova in straight sets, 64 64; Dementieva followed immediately afterwards with a 62 64 victory against unseeded Maria Kirilenko.

After back-to-back quarterfinals at Cincinnati and Stanford, Schnyder is finally through to her first semifinal of the summer hardcourt season and with a pair of victories against higher-ranked players no less, having bounced No.7-seeded countrywoman Martina Hingis in the third round Thursday. She moves into the semifinals of the Tier I Acura Classic for the second straight year, having gone this far one year ago before falling to Sharapova in two tight sets.

Dementieva used her big forehand and tenacious rallying to secure victory in her first career encounter with younger compatriot Kirilenko.

"I hadn't played against Maria before and was a little nervous in the beginning," Dementieva said. "She played unbelievable yesterday to beat Jelena Jankovic. She is in unbelievable shape and today was a tough match as well."

The Dementieva-Schnyder rivalry is one of the lengthier ones amongst the marquee names on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. The pair has split 12 meetings evenly, with Dementieva winning their most recent encounter at the indoor stop in Moscow last October, 76(6) 76(1). But they have competed here in San Diego once before, with the Swiss winning last year in the quarterfinals in straight sets.

In the doubles draw, No.1 seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber, No.2 seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama and No.3 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung took their places in the final four after straight set quarterfinal wins. Chakvetadze and Victoria Azarenka made the final four on Thursday.

Both singles semifinals and both doubles semifinals are on the Saturday schedule. (WTA)