Petrova scrapes through
Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:25
The Russian dropped the opening set but came back to beat the seventh seed 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7/5) despite nursing a ‘stress reaction’ injury to her right foot that required both feet to be taped.
Petrova had seven aces but served 11 double faults and made 71 unforced errors in a marathon encounter that lasted two hours and 39 minutes.
Petrova’s reward is a semi-final clash against fifth seed Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, who also needed a third set tie-break to down Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-3 3-6 7-6 (9/7).
Wozniak held a 5-2 lead in the deciding set but allowed Paszek to battle back to force a tie break.
The Canadian double-faulted on her first match point but Paszek put a pair of shots wide to hand Wozniak victory.
There were no such drama for second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark who overwhelmed Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-2 in 74 minutes.
The Danish teenager was in complete control, winning 81% of her service points and breaking the Slovak six times while not facing a break point herself.
Wozniacki will face Elena Vesnina in the last four after the Russian stunned third seed Dominika Cibulkova with a 7-5 6-7(5/7) 6-3 win over the Slovakian in a match which lasted two hours and 47 minutes.
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