Sharapova Moves into Semfinals After Marathon Victory Against Fellow Russian Dementeiva
In a match that took nearly three hours to complete, fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova upset second-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 on a chilly Friday night at the 2010 Bank of the West Classic.
After posting relatively quick straight-set victories during the first two rounds, Sharapova outlasted Dementieva in two hours and 47 minutes and has now won nine of the 12 meetings against her Russian counterpart.
Trailing 3-2 in the first set, Sharapova won four of the next five games to take the early lead. However, Dementieva bounced back, taking a 3-1 lead in the second set and polishing off the set 6-2.
Sharapova raced out to a 3-1 advantage in the third set before Dementieva stormed back to make it 3-3. Picking up her sixth top-10 victory since returning from a shoulder injury, Sharapova won the final three games to secure the match.
The first match of the day featured third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska posting a 7-5, 6-0 victory over unseeded Maria Kirilenko. Improving to 18-6 on hard courts this season, Radwanska trailed 5-4 in the first set before winning the next three games to take an early lead. She then needed only 30 minutes to blank Kirilenko 6-0 in the second set.
Eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka outlasted fourth-seeded Marion Bartoli 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the second match of the afternoon. Azarenka has now won all four career meetings against Bartoli, the defending tournament champion and finalist in each of the last two seasons. Bartoli jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and held on for a 6-3 victory in the first set. Bartoli built a 3-1 edge in the second set, only to see Azarenka storm back and claim the next five games. Following a lengthy first game in the third set, Azarenka polished off Bartoli to reach the semifinals.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Samantha Stosur survived a test from seventh-seeded Yanina Wickmayer and notched a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 triumph. Playing in her first tournament since breaking into the top-5, Stosur turned a 5-4 first-set deficit into a 7-5 victory. Wickmayer responded by taking the second set 6-3, but Stosur went ahead 4-2 and locked up the deciding set by a 6-3 count. Wickmayer had allowed just nine games combined through her first two matches.
Saturday’s singles semifinal matchups pit Stosur against Azarenka (12 p.m.) and Radwanska against Sharapova (7:30 p.m.).
After the Sharapova-Dementieva marathon, the second-seeded doubles team of Yung-Jan Chan and Jie Zheng needed only 36 minutes to rout Jill Craybas and Carly Gullickson 6-0, 6-0.
The U.S. Open National Playoff series continued on Friday, with Brittany Augustine, Alina Jidkova, Alexandra Mueller and Jessica Pegula.
Tickets for the 2010 Bank of the West Classic can be purchased by calling the box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or by logging on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com.
Entering its 40th year the Bank of the West Classic is the longest running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world. The list of past champions of the event reads like a “Who's Who” of women's tennis including Lindsay Davenport, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.
ABOUT THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: The Bank of the West Classic is the longest-running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world and is the first stop of the Olympus US Open Series. A Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Premier event, the Bank of the West Classic features a 30-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $700,000. Held on Stanford University's campus at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium since 1997, former champions include: Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams. The Bank of the West Classic is owned and operated by IMG.
ABOUT BANK OF THE WEST: Based in San Francisco, $61 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com) offers a full range of business, corporate, personal, trust and international banking services. For the third year in a row, Bank of the West has been ranked "highest in customer satisfaction in retail banking" in California by J.D. Power and Associates. The Bank operates more than 700 branch locations and commercial banking offices in 19 Western and Midwestern states. Bank of the West's holding company, BancWest Corporation, is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, among the six strongest banks in the world, according to Standard & Poor's.
