Injuries helped decide two of today’s four quarterfinal matches, but world number one Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic, and surprise semifinalist Alona Bondarenko are just one match away from reaching the Tier II J&S Cup final.
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.
Justine Henin strolled through to the semis with a routine 6-2, 6-1 win over Mara Santangelo.
Jankovic and Bondarenko both advanced when their opponents retired injured. Anna Chakvetadze, Jankovic’s opponent, retired with a right shoulder strain, and Julia Vakulenko quit her match against Bondarenko because of a right wrist injury.
Obviously, tomorrow’s marquee semifinal will be between Justine and Jelena. They have played a couple of close matches in the past, especially last year at the US Open. Jelena had Justine on the ropes before she lost her head after an argument with the chair umpire and went on to lose the match – and a spot her first major final.
Both matches tomorrow will be televised live on the Tennis Channel for fans in the United States. It makes for a very early Saturday morning, but it should be more than worth it to watch three of the WTA Tour’s best clay court players battle it out on the Road to Roland Garros.
