Should Russians Anna Chakvetadze and Maria Sharapova both win their semifinal matches in Rome on Saturday there will be an all-Russian singles final for the 15th time in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour history. It would also be the second straight all-Russian final after Dinara Safina beat compatriot Elena Dementieva last Sunday at Berlin. This year, there have been three all-Russian finals – Doha, Dubai and Berln.
Three of the four semifinalists – Chakvetadze, Alize Cornet, and Sharapova - have equaled or notched their best results at this event.
By winning her quarterfinal match on Friday, Sharapova claimed her 300th career singles match win. The 21-yearold Russian passed the $12-million prize money mark also this week, making her No.12 on the all-time list of career prize money leaders.
Defending champion Jelena Jankovic never made it past the second round in her first three appearances at Rome, but in 2006, she snapped out of a 10-match losing streak, winning three matches before falling to Venus Williams in three sets. In 2007, she went all the way to the title without dropping a single set.
Jankovic is the only former champion or the runner-up remaining after the exits of former champions Serena Williams and Venus Williams and former runners-up Patty Schnyder and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Jankovic is looking for her first title of 2008. She reached the final at the Tier I event in Miami in April but lost to Serena Williams in three sets.
Qualifier Cornet is making her debut at this tournament. She has equaled her career-best Tier I performance, reaching her second Tier I semifinal this year. Her first was on the green clay of Charleston, where she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams.
Eighteen-year-old Cornet is now a four-time Tour semifinalist, having reached her first career Tour semifinal at Acapulco at the end of February earlier this year, when she advanced to her first final, losing to Flavia Pennetta. She has reached the semifinals at three of her last four events, all on clay. She reached the final four at Amelia Island, losing to Dominika Cibulkova in three sets, and Charleston.
Anna Chakvetadze is making her first semifinal appearance at this event. Her previous-best performance at Rome was a third-round finish in 2007, when she lost to Daniela Hantuchova.
Chakvetadze is hoping to reach her second final of 2008, after winning the title at Paris [Indoors] in February. She is hoping to reach her second career Tier I singles final, after winning the Tier I event in Moscow in 2006.
Sharapova has reached the semifinals or better at five of the six events she has contested in 2008, including this week in Rome. She won titles at the Australian Open, the Tier I event at Doha and Amelia Island, her first title on clay. She lost in the semis at the Tier I event at Indian Wells and the quarters at the Tier I event at Charleston.
Sharapova is looking for her first Rome final. Her previous-best result at this event was a semifinal appearance in 2005, when she lost to Patty Schnyder in three sets.
At 18, Cornet is youngest and only teenager remaining, while 23-year-old Jankovic is the oldest.
Cornet is the only semifinalist to have reached the final four without dropping a set. Jankovic has lost one set; Sharapova has dropped two sets, and Chakvetadze has lost three sets. (WTA)
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