Dubai: The last two remaining seeds managed to survive, though in contrasting styles, to make the semi-finals of the 14th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge at the Grand Habtoor Resort and Spa yesterday.
Top seeded Simona Halep of Romania waged a grim three-set battle before scampering through to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win against Belarusian Olga Govortsova, while Dutch sixth seed Arantxa Rus scalped the mighty Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-4.
Halep will meet Thailand's Noppawan Lertcheewakarn after the Thai blew away Russia's Regina Kulikova 6-0, 6-3 in the upper half of the draw, while former junior world champion Kristina Mladenovic of France trotted her way to a third three-set affair, this time seeing off Urszula Radwanska 7-5, 2-6, 6-0 to set up a clash with Rus in the lower half.
The semi-finals will be played today, with Mladenovic taking on Rus at 10am followed by the battle between Halep and Lertcheewakarn and the doubles finals at about 3.30pm.
However, the highlight of the day will be the presence of men's player Mario Ancic, who will be here to conduct a tennis clinic for children, also starting at 10am. Entry for the tournament and the clinic is free.
Like a dream
Mladenovic, whose parents are now naturalised French citizens from the former Yugoslavia, was thrilled to be in the last-four of this annual $75,000 (Dh275,508) event. "This is like a dream to me, and each time I have played three sets. I really cannot explain this, but it's just that I have such a good feeling playing here that I want to go on and on," the 18-year-old told Gulf News.
Playing a much higher ranked opponent like Radwanska, she was well aware of the challenges before her. "But I really did not care as I believed in my abilities," Mladenovic added. In her opening round match, Mladenovic fought back from 3-4 down to beat Thai Varatchaya Wongteanchai 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. In the second round the French teenager battled back from 1-3 and 0-40 behind before beating seventh seed Evgeniya Rodina 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to set up yesterday's quarter-final with Radwanska.
Mladenovic has had a fabulous career in tennis so far. After starting in the juniors in May 2006, her biggest achievement came at the 2009 Junior French Open, where she beat Russian Daria Gavrilova 6-3, 6-2 to win the title, claiming the highest junior ranking by the first week of June.
The same year Mladenovic advanced to both the girls' singles and doubles finals at Wimbledon, losing to Thailand's Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in the singles, and ironically also her doubles partner.
RESULTS
- Women's singles (quarter-finals):
- Simona Halep bt Olga Govortsova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Noppawan Lertcheewakarn bt Regina Kulikova 6-0, 6-3; Kristina Mladenovic bt Urszula Radwanska 7-5, 2-6, 6-0; Arantxa Rus bt Akgul Amanmuradova 6-2, 6-4.
