Hantuchova Escapes Upset, Will Meet Morigami in Semifinals
MASON, Ohio
Battling some scorching temperatures and a fierce quarterfinal opponent,
Daniela Hantuchova put up quite a fight to reach her second semifinal of the
season.
The No.4 seed advanced on Friday at the Western & Southern Financial Group
Women's Open, overcoming many missed opportunites in the first set to defeat
No.81-ranked Korean Yoon Jeong Cho, 67(1) 64 61. She will next take on Japan's
Akiko Morigami, who defeated India's Sania Mirza, 64 63.
Hantuchova advances to her fifth career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour semifinal and
second of the year. The 22-year-old from the Slovak Republic improves her
record on the year to 19-14 and will be looking for her first Tour final since
reaching the championship match at Eastbourne in 2004.
The story in the first set was the missed opportunities by Hantuchova to grab
an early lead. Though the first set remained close, Hantuchova was only able to
convert 1-of-10 break opportunities, include three while serving for the set at
5-4. Cho was able to convert on her only break chance and eventual forced the
tie-break where the Korean player won seven of the eight points played.
"I had so many chances that I didn't use," Hantuchova said. "Maybe I was going
for it too much and I was taking too many chances."
The second set turned out to be closer than the first with many games going to
deuce and both players staking claim on their serves through the first six
games. At 3-3, Hantuchova was finally able to gain the advantage by grabbing a
break for 4-3 and then holding serve for 5-3. After Cho held for 5-4,
Hantuchova closed out the set by holding serve at love.
After a 10-minute break before the start of the third set because the heat rule
was in effect, Hantuchova kept the momentum on her side, opening the decisive
set with a break and then holding for 2-0. Cho held serve for 2-1 and then held
a break point on Hantuchova's next serve game, but the Slovak player was able
to keep Cho on the move and remained up a break at 3-1.
Hantuchova then closed out the match with another break, a strong service game
and one final break to take the third set in seven games.
Hantuchova seemed to benefit more from the heat break after the second set and
said it helped energize her for the final set.
"I had so much energy," Hantuchova said. "I felt really good after that. Even
after the match. I felt like I could have played another set."
The world No.26 credits her early preparation for the North American hard court
swing as a reason that could have helped her physical endurance on the court.
Hantuchova came to train in Florida earlier than normal in order to be ready
for the intense heat.
"It's been a great start to the summer tournaments," Hantuchova said. "It gives
me a lot of confidence. I feel like I had good preparation before I got here
and it's paying off. I just need to keep going."
She will take on Morigami, who used a variety of tactics in her straight sets
victory against the teenager from India.
Fresh off her upset of No.2 seed Vera Zvonareva on Thursday night, Morigami
started off the match strong with a break and a hold of serve for 2-0. But
Mirza didn't allow the match to get out of hand from the start, breaking right
back to bring the set back on serve. However, the Japanese player got another
break late in the set to move into the second with a one set lead, 6-4.
The second start started much like the first. Morigami gets a break then holds,
followed by a hold of serve by Mirza and a break back for 2-2. The re-creation
of the ended in the fifth game when Mirza was unable to hold serve, allowing
Morigami to once again go up a break. Morigami then was able to hold serve the
remainder of the way to reach the final four.
"Beating Vera gave me good confidence," Morigami said. "It's not always about
results, but I'm very happy with the way I played in that match and the way I
played today."
This will be Morigami's third career Tour semifinal and first since reaching
the semis in Hyderabad and Shanghai in 2003. Morigami knows she will have to
be at her best in order to keep up with Hantuchova in the next round.
"She's very competitive and focused," Morigami said. "She always has a good
serve, so I'll have to have a good return game."
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