Wozniacki, Dementieva in final
Source: Agencies |
October 2, 2010, Saturday
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TOP seed Caroline Wozniacki outmuscled Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4 to reach the final of the Pan Pacific Open yesterday.
Russia's former champion Elena Dementieva defeated this year's French Open winner Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-5 of Italy in the other semifinal.
Dane Wozniacki overcame Azarenka's loud grunting, tantrums and occasional flashes of brilliance to advance to the final of the US$2 million tournament in Tokyo.
"After the first set the second was really tight," said Wozniacki, who is closing in on the world No. 1 ranking.
"At 5-love I felt really good," added Wozniacki, who squandered a big lead in the final set before closing the match out in two hours and 51 minutes.
"I thought the match was mine. Then Victoria started playing well and all of a sudden the score is 5-4 and I knew I had to close it out with my serve."
Wozniacki stormed through the first set but was pegged back after an error-strewn second in which both players struggled to hold serve.
Normal service was resumed in the decider with Wozniacki pinning Azarenka back with some ferocious deep hitting before bringing up three match points.
The Dane was held up briefly after a successful line-call challenge from Azarenka on the first but clinically brought proceedings to a close with an ace down the middle.
Wozniacki can overtake Serena Williams at the top of the world rankings by winning in Tokyo this week and following that with a quarterfinal finish in Beijing next week.
"Caroline is very motivated as she wants to reach the No. 1 position by the end of the year," said Dementieva, who won in Tokyo four years ago.
Baseline game
"She's a very consistent player and has a very powerful baseline game. I have to be aggressive and really will have to go for the winners.
"There are no mistakes I can expect from her because she is playing at the top level and having a great season."
In Nonthaburi, outside Bangkok, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Thailand Open with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin yesterday.
The Spaniard, who won his ninth grand slam at last month's US Open, overpowered the 22-year-old with a polished all-round performance.
Nadal broke the 83-ranked Kazakh at 3-2 in the first set and won six straight games before Kukushkin answered back. Nadal served well throughout the second set and kept his opponent on the back foot.
"It was a much better performance than yesterday and I felt really happy," Nadal told reporters.
Unseeded Jarkko Nieminen and Benjamin Becker booked places in the semifinals after impressive runs in a tournament decimated by early exits of its top-ranked players.
Finland's Nieminen beat third-seeded Austrian Juergen Melzer 6-3, 7-6 (4) to set up a semifinal with Becker, the 2007 finalist, who outplayed fellow German Daniel Brands 6-4, 6-2.
Nieminen, the world No. 60, put his form down to a recent change in coach and improvements to a game he said had stagnated.
Nadal and Latvian Ernests Gulbis are the only seeded players remaining. Gulbis was playing Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez later.
Those who made early exits include second-seeded Fernando Verdasco, former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and Serbian Viktor Troicki.
Russia's former champion Elena Dementieva defeated this year's French Open winner Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-5 of Italy in the other semifinal.
Dane Wozniacki overcame Azarenka's loud grunting, tantrums and occasional flashes of brilliance to advance to the final of the US$2 million tournament in Tokyo.
"After the first set the second was really tight," said Wozniacki, who is closing in on the world No. 1 ranking.
"At 5-love I felt really good," added Wozniacki, who squandered a big lead in the final set before closing the match out in two hours and 51 minutes.
"I thought the match was mine. Then Victoria started playing well and all of a sudden the score is 5-4 and I knew I had to close it out with my serve."
Wozniacki stormed through the first set but was pegged back after an error-strewn second in which both players struggled to hold serve.
Normal service was resumed in the decider with Wozniacki pinning Azarenka back with some ferocious deep hitting before bringing up three match points.
The Dane was held up briefly after a successful line-call challenge from Azarenka on the first but clinically brought proceedings to a close with an ace down the middle.
Wozniacki can overtake Serena Williams at the top of the world rankings by winning in Tokyo this week and following that with a quarterfinal finish in Beijing next week.
"Caroline is very motivated as she wants to reach the No. 1 position by the end of the year," said Dementieva, who won in Tokyo four years ago.
Baseline game
"She's a very consistent player and has a very powerful baseline game. I have to be aggressive and really will have to go for the winners.
"There are no mistakes I can expect from her because she is playing at the top level and having a great season."
In Nonthaburi, outside Bangkok, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Thailand Open with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin yesterday.
The Spaniard, who won his ninth grand slam at last month's US Open, overpowered the 22-year-old with a polished all-round performance.
Nadal broke the 83-ranked Kazakh at 3-2 in the first set and won six straight games before Kukushkin answered back. Nadal served well throughout the second set and kept his opponent on the back foot.
"It was a much better performance than yesterday and I felt really happy," Nadal told reporters.
Unseeded Jarkko Nieminen and Benjamin Becker booked places in the semifinals after impressive runs in a tournament decimated by early exits of its top-ranked players.
Finland's Nieminen beat third-seeded Austrian Juergen Melzer 6-3, 7-6 (4) to set up a semifinal with Becker, the 2007 finalist, who outplayed fellow German Daniel Brands 6-4, 6-2.
Nieminen, the world No. 60, put his form down to a recent change in coach and improvements to a game he said had stagnated.
Nadal and Latvian Ernests Gulbis are the only seeded players remaining. Gulbis was playing Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez later.
Those who made early exits include second-seeded Fernando Verdasco, former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and Serbian Viktor Troicki.
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