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Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in action against Marion Bartoli of France during day four of the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship on February 21, 2013 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
(February 20, 2013 – Source: Julian Finney/Getty Images Europe)

Story Highlights

Samantha Stosur lost to doubles specialist Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-2, 6-4
Caroline Wozniacki outlasted Marion Bartoli 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Vinci will face doubles partner Sara Errani in the semifinals

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova overpowered defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4 to set up a semifinal against former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the Dubai Championships on Thursday.

Wozniacki needed more than two and a half hours to get past Marion Bartoli of France, whose aggressive play was undermined by 14 double faults — two that cost her games in the second set — and 46 unforced errors.

Doubles specialist Roberta Vinci of Italy surprised former U.S. Open champ Sam Stosur 6-2, 6-4 in their quarterfinal and will face doubles partner Sara Errani after the seventh-ranked Italian overcame 12th-ranked Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.

No. 4-ranked Radwanska had no answers for the big-hitting Kvitova, who neutralized the Pole with a powerful forehand that contributed to 37 winners.

Neither player managed to hold serve in the nervy first five games. But then eighth-ranked Kvitova held for the first time to go up 4-2 and broke for a fourth time to make it 5-2. The second was tighter but Kvitova took control when she converted a fifth break chance in the game to go up 4-2. The Czech won the match with a powerful forehand that Radwanska returned weakly into the net.

“I think to beat Agnieszka here it means something more because she’s defending champion, so she’s playing well here,” said Kvitova, who has a 4-1 record against the Pole. “So that’s a good sign for me.”

Kvitova said she would have to play even better against Wozniacki, including reducing the 38 unforced errors she had against Radwanska.

“It’s important to have less unforced errors, but it’s part of my game,” she said. “I am a player who is going for the winners, so I have to accept the unforced errors, too. I shoot bullets on the court next time.”

Wozniacki and Bartoli had a similar sloppy start, with six breaks of serve in the first set. Bartoli came from 4-2 down to win the first set. Wozniacki was almost untouchable in the second, and the third became back-and-fourth. Bartoli jumped out to 2-0 and then Wozniacki ran off five straight games. Bartoli won two straight to make it 5-4 but Wozniacki was able hold her nerve and serve out the match.

After her win, Diego Maradona, an ambassador for the Dubai Sports Council, came onto the court to give her one of his signed Argentina jerseys emblazoned with his No. 10. The Dane gave him a signed tennis racket.

“It was disappointing to lose that first set after I had been up,” Wozniacki said. “But then I felt like she couldn’t really do much in that second set because I was all over it. And in the third set, down 2-love, could have been 3-love and all of a sudden it’s not looking too good. But I just kept fighting and every game was close.”

Earlier, Vinci put away a mistake-prone Stosur, who lost in the quarterfinals in Doha last week following a galling second-round exit at her home Australian Open.

Stosur made 28 unforced errors and was broken twice in each set.

“Way too many errors,” Stosur said. “She did well to not be bothered by anything I was trying to do. She used her slice very well which kept all the points neutral.”

Despite the latest setback, Stosur felt she was improving over her dismal start to the year.

“January didn’t really go as well as I wanted it to. I wasn’t playing up to the standard and level that I think I’m capable of,” she said. “The last couple of weeks, it’s gotten better. I’ve played many more good matches than bad.”

Vinci also ousted sixth-ranked Angelique Kerber. Her coach told her to attack Stosur’s backhand.

“She (Stosur) has an unbelievable forehand, so I tried to play against her backhand because she has a lot of problem with backhand, and try some slice and also some top when I have time,” Vinci said.

Vinci said her success in doubles — the Italian has 19 doubles titles to only seven singles — has contributed to her resurgence in singles, where she was ranked 17th.

“In doubles, you can try something that you can play in singles,” she said. “I probably play more relaxed and then I play better in the singles.”

Marin Cilic returns a serve to Igor Sijsling during the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis, Tenn.(Photo: Nikki Boertman, AP)

Marin Cilic moves on to US indoor quarterfinals

Story Highlights

Marin Cilic beat Igor Sijsling to advance to the U.S. National Indoor Championships quarterfinals
Top-seeded Cilic will face Kei Nishikori
Also moving into the quarterfinals are Alexandr Dolgopolov, Denis Istomin and Michael Russell

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Top seed Marin Cilic of Croatia survived three match points in a third-set tiebreaker against Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. National Indoor Championships with a 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (7) victory Thursday.

Cilic, the world’s 12th-ranked player, battled Sijsling for more than 2½ hours and saved four break points in the 11th game of the third set to take a 6-5 lead. He squandered a match point with Sijsling serving at 5-6 in the third set.

Sijsling double-faulted on his third match point of the tiebreaker and lost when he netted a forehand from behind the baseline.

DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS: Wozniacki wins, Stosur loses

The win moved Cilic — who won his ninth ATP Tour title two weeks ago in Zagreb, Croatia — into the quarterfinals against fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over qualifier Donald Young of the U.S.

Also, Marinko Matosevic of Australia eliminated fourth-seeded American Sam Querrey 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a match that lasted almost two hours.

Querrey had saved one match point in the deciding game, but double-faulted to send the advantage back to Matosevic. After a long rally from the baseline, Querrey sailed a forehand long, giving the Australian a berth in the quarterfinals.

Matosevic, ranked 53rd in the world, said he was pleased with his play after dropping the opening set. He said returning serve is one of his strengths, and despite Querrey recording 15 aces, Matosevic was able to keep some of his 135-mph serves in play “and win the rally.”

“I started to return a little bit better, and probably the major thing was I picked up my serve percentage,” Matosevic said of his play in the last two sets. “I started to get a few more free points and started to hold my own serve a little bit easier.”

Also advancing were No. 7 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and American Michael Russell.

Dolgopolov beat American qualifier Rhyne Williams 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Istomin defeated former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia 6-1, 6-2; and Russell won 6-2, 6-4 over Lukasz Kubot of Poland.

Earlier in the women’s quarterfinals, top-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium was eliminated by Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, the No. 7 seed, 6-7 (11), 7-5, 6-3.

Flipkens’ loss meant the tournament’s top two seeds in the women’s draw have been eliminated. Second-seeded Sofia Arvidsson lost her second-round match to Marina Erakovic on Wednesday.

And fourth-seeded Heather Watson of Britain also lost Thursday, 6-1, 6-2 to Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland.

That left Sabine Lisicki of Germany as the only player in the top half of the draw to move on to the semifinals after she defeated eighth-seeded Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-3.

In Friday’s semifinals, Voegele will play Erakovic of New Zealand, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Jamie Hampton of the United States on Thursday, while Lisicki and Rybarikova will face off in the other match.

Almagro reaches Buenos Aires quarterfinals

Story Highlights

Nicolas Almagro defeated Andrey Kuznetsov 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Dadvid Ferrer was scheduled to face David Nalbandian later Thursday
In Marseille, Dmitry Tursunov upset fourth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (7-4), 6-2

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Nicolas Almagro of Spain and Federico Delbonis of Argentina picked up second-round victories and are set to meet in the quarterfinals of the Copa Claro in the Argentine capital.

Second-seeded Almagro defeated Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Debonis won against Albert Montanes of Spain 6-1, 6-4.

Almagro won this tournament two years ago and was the runner-up last year to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.

Ferrer was the top seed again and played late Thursday against David Nalbandian of Argentina.

Open 13

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro beat Michael Llodra 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 to reach the Open 13 quarterfinals on Thursday.

Del Potro hit 14 aces and saved nine of the 10 break points he faced as he was pushed all the way by the veteran Frenchman in a rematch of last year’s final.

“It was very, very tough. It shows the level of the tournament is so high,” del Potro said. “I think I played a very good level at the end of the match. He played well throughout the match. I needed luck to beat him today, because he deserved to win the match as well.”

The 2009 U.S. Open champion faces another Frenchman, Gilles Simon, in the last eight after he advanced to his third straight quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Roberto Bautista-Agut, although Simon’s serve was again not at its best. He broke his Spanish opponent seven times, but conceded three breaks of his own.

Meanwhile, Russian qualifier Dmitry Tursunov also advanced after he upset fourth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

Tursunov, a semifinalist at the tournament two years ago, saved the four break points he faced and twice broke the Serb. He next plays Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

Seventh-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland beat Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6 (0), 6-3, setting up a quarterfinal with top-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

Tennis Roundup: Wozniacki wins, Stosur loses at Dubai Championships is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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