A year after beating her in the final in Los Angeles, Flavia Pennetta beat Sam Stosur in the quarterfinals of San Diego, wiping out the last of the Top 3 seeds at the Premier-level tournament.
Pennetta had beaten Stosur in straight sets in both of their previous meetings and that trend continued, as the No.5-seeded Italian improved to 3-0 against the No.2-seeded Stosur with a 6-4 6-3 victory in the first match of the day. Pennetta broke Stosur four times - twice in the first set, twice in the second set.
"I played really consistently. In the first game I had some trouble but it got much better from there," Pennetta said. "It's a good feeling. She's one of the best players this year and it's never easy to beat this kind of player."
"I wasn't hanging in enough. I didn't force her to do anything and she was getting quite comfortable in the rallies," Stosur said. "She stands further back, which gives her more time to figure out the pace and allows her to redirect well."
Svetlana Kuznetsova, Panetta's semi-final oppent, ended the run of qualifier Coco Vandeweghe, 7-5 6-2. The teenaged Vandeweghe had won back-to-back Sony Ericsson WTA Tour matches for the first time in her career en route to the quarters, including a second round stunner over No.3 seed Vera Zvonareva.
Daniela Hantuchova was the third player to snap up a semifinal berth, coming from 62 30 down to beat Alisa Kleybanova, 2-6 6-4 6-3. It was her second comeback of the week: in the first round she beat No.6 seed Marion Bartoli from three match points down. "It came down to fitness again. I felt like I needed to get into longer rallies and make her tired," Hantuchova said afterwards. "I worked hard before coming here. I think it's going to pay off."
At night, Agnieszka Radwanska earned her second trip to the semifinals in as many weeks Friday with a 6-2, 6-0 drubbing of Sasha Peer at the Mercury Insurance Open.
Radwanska reached the semifinals last week at the Bank of the West Classic before losing to Maria Sharapova.
Pennetta had beaten Stosur in straight sets in both of their previous meetings and that trend continued, as the No.5-seeded Italian improved to 3-0 against the No.2-seeded Stosur with a 6-4 6-3 victory in the first match of the day. Pennetta broke Stosur four times - twice in the first set, twice in the second set.
"I played really consistently. In the first game I had some trouble but it got much better from there," Pennetta said. "It's a good feeling. She's one of the best players this year and it's never easy to beat this kind of player."
"I wasn't hanging in enough. I didn't force her to do anything and she was getting quite comfortable in the rallies," Stosur said. "She stands further back, which gives her more time to figure out the pace and allows her to redirect well."
Svetlana Kuznetsova, Panetta's semi-final oppent, ended the run of qualifier Coco Vandeweghe, 7-5 6-2. The teenaged Vandeweghe had won back-to-back Sony Ericsson WTA Tour matches for the first time in her career en route to the quarters, including a second round stunner over No.3 seed Vera Zvonareva.
Daniela Hantuchova was the third player to snap up a semifinal berth, coming from 62 30 down to beat Alisa Kleybanova, 2-6 6-4 6-3. It was her second comeback of the week: in the first round she beat No.6 seed Marion Bartoli from three match points down. "It came down to fitness again. I felt like I needed to get into longer rallies and make her tired," Hantuchova said afterwards. "I worked hard before coming here. I think it's going to pay off."
At night, Agnieszka Radwanska earned her second trip to the semifinals in as many weeks Friday with a 6-2, 6-0 drubbing of Sasha Peer at the Mercury Insurance Open.
Radwanska reached the semifinals last week at the Bank of the West Classic before losing to Maria Sharapova.
No comments:
Post a Comment