TASHKENT: China’s Shuai Peng, top seed of the WTA Tashkent Open 145,000-dollar tournament, came back from a set down to beat Romania’s sixth seed Monica Niculescu in their quarter-final clash here yesterday.
The 22-year-old Peng, who is 40th in the WTA rankings, won 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 6-4 in her first ever head-to-head meeting with Niculescu, who is ranked 30 places below, in two hours 52 minutes.
After trading breaks twice the first set went the way of 21-year-old Niculescu on a tiebreak, but Peng broke twice in the second set to to level with relative ease.
Peng then moved up a gear and, thanks to a more accurate game all round, won the deciding set to book her place in the semis with 19-year-old Sabine Lisicki of Germany, the fourth seed.
In her quarter-final Lisicki also battled back from a set down before going on to beat unseeded Urszula Radwanska of Poland 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4).
Another Romanian player, Sorana Cirstea, third seed here, saw off 15-year-old Portuguese Michelle Larcher De Brito in straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) to book a semi clash with Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.
Rybarikova, the fifth seed, experienced few troubles against Ioana Ralu Olaru of Romania winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 to record her second win over her fellow 19-year-old in as many meetings. (AFP) |
