The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Kuznetsova moves into final

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Kuznetsova moves into final

ROME: Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova stormed into the WTA Rome claycourt International final with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka on Friday.

Seventh seed Kuznetsova thus reached her second final here after losing to Jelena Jankovic, whom she defeated in Thursday’s quarterfinal, two years ago.

This result never looked in doubt as Kuznetsova breezed through the first set with three breaks of serve to one.

However, the sixth seeded teenager broke Kuznetsova in the first game of the second set and looked to make more of a fist of things.

However, the match turned on a controversial point at 2-0 to Azarenka, when on game point Kuznetsova hit a shot that television replays showed had landed just out.

It was called in despite Azarenka’s vociferous protests and the 19-year-old let the matter get to her as she lost her way, and five straight games.

She rallied briefly when trailing 5-2 in the second but then a poor service game at 5-4 saw her succumb to the Russian 23-year-old after 1 hour 30 minutes on court.

At Belgrade, second-seeded Ivo Karlovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the Serbia Open on Thursday after beating Brian Dabul of Argentina 6-4, 7-6(5).

Karlovic will meet qualifier Flavio Cipolla from Italy, who had earlier eliminated seventh-seeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

The results: At Rome (WTA Italian Open): Semifinals: Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-4. Quarterfinals: Venus Williams bt Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2.

At Estoril (Estoril Open): Women: semifinals: Ekaterina Makarova bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-1; Yanina Wickmayer bt Shahar Peer 3-0 (rtd.).

Men: Quarterfinals: Nikolay Davydenko bt Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-3; Paul Capdeville bt Oscar Hernandez 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Second round: Gilles Simon bt Fabio Fognini 6-0, 7-5; Florent Serra bt Juan Monaco 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

At Munich (BMW Open): Quarterfinals: Mikhail Youzhny bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Second round: Lleyton Hewitt bt Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-4.

At Belgrade (Serbia Open): second round: Ivo Karlovic bt Brian Dabul 6-4, 7-6(5). — Agencies

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