May 19, 2005
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Top Three Seeds, Newcomer Reach Istanbul Semis
ISTANBUL, Turkey - The inaugural semifinals at the Istanbul Cup will feature the tournament's top three seeds and a player making her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut this week.
Top seed Venus Williams, No.2 Nicole Vaidisova and No.3 Anna Smashnova are joined by 17-year-old Bulgarian qualifier Tzsvetana Pironkova as this year's final four in Istanbul after all four players claimed straight sets wins in Thursday's quarterfinal action.
Williams continued to look impressive for the second straight round, this time dropping just three games against No.7 seed Anna Chakvetadze, 62 61. This victory comes one round after Williams made her debut in Turkey with a 60 60 victory against Marta Marrero.
Much like the match versus Marrero, the first few games appeared to be close until Williams gained momentum and then turned on the cruise control.
"One of (Chakvetadvze's) strengths is that she's a fighter," Williams said. "Even towards the end of the match she was trying her hardest, but I was in a good rhythm today, which was good. I've had a great week so far, and it's not over yet. I hope to be here for two more days and take the title with me to Paris."
Williams' path to Paris must first go through Pironkova, who has surprised many this week by reaching the semifinals in her Tour debut. On Thursday, Pironkova - who is currently ranked No.220 - improved to 4-0 lifetime against Top 100 opponents, defeating Israel's Shahar Peer, 63 76(4).
Pironkova is proving this week that she knows only one way to strike a ball - very hard. She used that technique throughout the match against Peer, crushing shot after shot to dominate most of the rallies against the talented Israeli.
Vaidisova made it through to the final four, withstanding a tough challenge from No.5 seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 75 76(6). Vaidisova held a 5-2 lead in the second set before letting it slip away, which included Groenefeld holding a set point at 6-5 in the tie-break before winning the final three points of the match.
The 16-year-old Czech will advance to face Smashnova, who once again put together a stellar performance with a 63 61 win against No.8 seed Mashona Washington. After surviving a tough first round match with Catalina Castano, Smashnova has moved into the semifinals with very little trouble. She has conceded just five games in her last two matches, which included a 61 60 thrashing of American Jennifer Hopkins in the second round.
Vaidisova and Smashnova will be facing one another for the first time. Should Smashnova advance to the finals, she will take a perfect 9-0 record in Tour singles finals into Saturday's championship match.
