Friday, April 27, 2012

Sharapova beats Stosur and advances to Stuttgart semifinals

Sam Stosur served for the match today in Stuttgart, but was broken, and her opponent, Maria Sharapova, went on to win a very well-fought three-hour quarterfinal. Sharapova's 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 victory was about as good as it gets, and the fact that she claimed it on red clay made it even better.

Sharapova's opponent in the semifinals will be none other than Petra Kvitova, who was at her scary-best against Angelique Kerber in a very late night match. Kvitova defeated Kerber 6-4, 6-4 in just over an hour, and she hit 32 winners. She did get broken twice in the first set, however.

Agnieszka Radwanska won her quarterfinal match, too, and will once again face Victoria Azarenka in the next round. Radwanska defeated Li Na 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, and Azarenka overcame a very strong Mona Barthel, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. Barthel, who has a wild card in Stuttgart, saved a match point, but when she served at 5-6 to stay in the match, she collapsed, double-faulting twice. The match lasted almost two hours and 49 minutes.

Meanwhile, in Fes, qualifier Kiki Bertens has reached the final. Bertens defeated Simona Halep in the semifinals today. She has also taken out Urszula Radwanska, Chanelle Scheepers and Garbine Muguruza Blanco. Bertens' opponent in the final will be Laura Pous-Tio, who defeated Mathilde Johansson 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 in the semifinals.

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