Agnieszka Radwanska had the support of the crowd, but Russia’s Elena Dementieva held on to secure her berth in the J&S Cup semifinals in Warsaw, Poland this afternoon. Dementieva, a self-confessed slow-starter, surrendered the first set to Radwanska 5-7, but came back to win the final two sets 6-3, 6-1.
No. 1 seed Kim Clijsters scored a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 win over Italy’s Francesca Schiavone. Schiavone has lost all ten of her meetings with Clijsters.
Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze endured a three-set marathon against Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic and advanced 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Venus Williams for the first time in two years in the last quarterfinal match of the day. Kuznetsova, the 2006 NASDAQ-100 Open champion, swept past a rusty Williams in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
Tomorrow’s semifinal order of play:
(1) Kim Clijsters vs. (3) Elena Dementieva
(4) Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Anna Chakvetadze
Be sure to check out the television listings and watch the coverage live on The Tennis Channel.
[...] History repeated itself today as Svetlana Kuznetsova ousted Venus Williams yet again in the quarterfinals at Warsaw. Last year Svetlana scored a straight sets win, but this year Venus made her work a bit harder to reach the semifinals 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. [...]