Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia reacts during her tennis match against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia at the WTA Tour Championships in Doha November 6, 2008. Having yielded to Jankovic, Kuznetsova lost her chance to advance to the semifinal.
Photo: Reuters
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Kuznetsova Kept Out Of Zvonareva’s Way
Three semifinal players of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha are known already. One of them is the world leader Yelena Jankovic that beat Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova. This second loss of Svetlana booked the play-off seat for another Russian of the White Group, Vera Zvonareva. Venus Williams that overwhelmed her younger sister Serena progressed to the semifinal from the Red Group.
Svetlana Kuznetsova brought into challenge her Doha advance once she yielded the first match to Vera Zvonareva. She needed nothing but victory in the match vs. Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, which she failed to secure.
Theoretically, even a sole victory may propel a player to the semifinal of the Sony Ericsson Championships. But Zvonareva added the second win Wednesday, once she prevailed over Ana Ivanovic. So, by defeating Kuznetsova (7-6 (8-6) 6-4), Jankovic has two victories as well, and emerged as the second semifinalist.
In the Red Group, the show was stolen by the 17th family battle of the Williams sisters that had had the face-to-face record of 8-8 before Doha. Venus, who didn’t appear in the fighting mood at first, accelerated in the second set to crush Serena 5-7 6-1 6-0 and guarantee participation in the semifinal match.
On the same day, Russia’s Elena Dementieva defeated compatriot Dinara Safina 6-2 6-4 and Serena must prevail over the beautiful Russian today to progress in Doha.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 07, 2008
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