Zvonareva struggles through in Baku

"Landep News"

Zvonareva struggles through in Baku

Main favorite Vera Zvonareva was one step from being ousted from the Baku Cup as the world number three survived a three-set test against Anna Tatishvili whom the Russian edged 7-5, 6-7, 6-2, to set a Mariya Koryttseva semi final meeting.

Vera needed nearly three hours to get rid of the Georgian who managed to stay in touch with the big victory thanks to a second-set comeback which saw Tatishvili edge her opponent at four. But the outsider eventually conceded the decider quite easily, allowing Zvonareva to break her early in the term and thus grab the hard fought victory. Next up for the top seed is Koryttseva of Ukraine who has managed to keep the sheet clean in Azerbaijan.

She has flown into the quarter finals after ousting Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 to near her best performance of the season. Previous to the Tatishvili tough clash, Vera had ousted Nigina Abdurimova 6-1, 7-5 and Kristina Kucova 6-0, 3-0 (abandon). As for her next opponent, Koryttseva had previously eliminated Elena Baltacha 6-1, 7-5 and Anastasiya Yakimova 6-2, 7-5 in the second round.

World number 165 Koryttseva will meet Zvonareva, winner of this term’s Doha event, for the second time, the head to head series having gone 1-0 to the Russian who beat the Ukraine at the 2009 Instanbul tournament. On of the biggest surprises of the Baku Cup comes from Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan who has made another big step towards her best performance of the season after stunning second favorite and this term’s Monterrey champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova whom she ousted in three sets after losing the opener, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Next up for her is Ksenia Pervak who crashed Aravane Rezai in straight easy sets, 6-1, 6-2. En route to the semi final, Voskoboeva has laso beaten Sofia Shapatava 6-0, 6-0 and Romania’s Monica Niculescu 7-6, 6-2. As for Pervak the Russian had previously upset Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 and Vesna Dolonts 6-3, 6-3.

The two are to meet for the third time, the head to head series being led by the world number 162 who has defeated the 20-year-old Ksenia at the 2007 Moscow event and 2008 Berlin tournament. Despite her lower ranking, Voskoboeva will start the semi final as favorite, given her previous remarkable results over the world number 55 who will be chasing her first win against the 26-year-old.

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