Semis for hot and cold Hantuchova
Jan 5, 2006
By Dana Johannsen at the ASB Centre in Auckland
Slovakian second-seed Daniela Hantuchova scraped through to the last four of
the ASB Classic after battling past Israeli qualifier Tzipora Obziler 7-5 3-6
7-5 in their quarterfinal match-up on Thursday.
Hantuchova converted her third match-point of the afternoon to close out the
marathon match, which lasted just over three hours on centre court at the ASB
Centre.
After the match an exhausted, but jubilant Hantuchova declared the game, which
she was very in danger of losing, must have aged her about 10 years.
"I don't remember the last time I played such a long match," she said.
The world number 17 was her own worst enemy though, committing a total of 70
unforced errors.
After struggling to find her range early on, Hantuchova found herself down 5-1
in the first set before she produced a remarkable comeback. The Slovakian
pin-up won the next six consecutive games to take out the first set 7-5.
Obziler looked to be struggling with her fitness towards the end of the first
set but started the second with a lot more resolve. The 32-year-old journey-
woman won the first three games of the set to take a 3-0 lead, and while
Hantuchova fought back, Obziler always looked to be in control.
The Israeli easily took out the second set 6-3, as she punished the
inconsistent Hantuchova.
"It was very, very frustrating, especially after I got back in the first set
and got on top of it and I felt like if I kept doing the same thing as I did
from 5-1 down I could have done it in two sets but then I just sort of lost
it completely," Hantuchova explained after the match.
The Slovakian came out firing in the third though, winning the first two games
in a straight-forward manner.
But the gutsy Obziler hit back, and a mammoth battle ensued, with just about
every game going to deuce.
Leading 5-3 in the final set, Obziler looked to be well in control of the match
but some costly unforced errors swung the match back in favour of the number
two seed.
But to the relief of tournament director Richard Palmer, the Slovakian
draw-card held her nerve to win the next four games and close out match.
But there was no one more relieved than Hantuchova herself.
"I just tried to hang in there as much as I could and I'm just extremely happy
that I was able to pull it off," she said.
Hantuchova will meet the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal between Russians
Vera Zvonareva and Maria Kirilenko in the semifinal on Friday.
打了三個小時...
超過70個UE
韓娃加油阿......
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