Sharapova to Battle Kuznetsova at Pacific Open
Russia’s Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova will face each other at the semifinal standoff of Pacific Life Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California. Another Russian, Vera Zvonareva cruised to the quarterfinals. But there is no one left in the men’s section – Nikolay Davydenko and Mikhail Youzhny yielded their matches.
Maria Sharapova has lost no match this season, reaching the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open with the record of 16 victories, including Australian Open and Doha titles. But despite the magnificent form, Maria needed 2 hours 45 minutes to break Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine.
The Russian easily cruised through the first set and was seemingly controlling the second one. She broke twice but always failed to secure the advantage. Luckily, Sharapova was a bit more accurate in the decider.
Maria’s perfect season is still intact. Sharapova defeated Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the quarterfinals in two sets (7-6(2) 6-1) late Wednesday. Maria’s next opponent is Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. Tournament’s second seed Kuznetsova, needed just two sets to dismiss Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the quarterfinal match of Pacific Open. Kuznetsova trails Sharapova 3-4 in the face-to-face matches.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 20, 2008
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