MASON, OH, USA - Anna Chakvetadze faces her toughest challenger yet, while two surprise semifinalists try to take their Cinderella runs a step further, as the semifinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open take the courts Saturday.
(7) Akiko Morigami (JPN) vs. (Q) Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) - First Meeting
Two years back on these same courts, Morigami reached her very first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final, falling to Patty Schnyder in two routine sets. This year, the Japanese reached her projected quarterfinal with the Swiss then turned the tables on her, avenging that loss with her own two set win to reach the semifinals again. In her sixth career semifinal (she is 2-3 in her previous five) she will face the big-serving Amanmuradova, who has won five matches to reach this stage, winning a pair of matches in qualifying before notching three more wins in the main draw. A nail-biting second round encounter with Bethanie Mattek stands out in her path to the final - she overcame a 4-0 third set deficit against the American, eventually winning in a third set tie-break.
This will be the first meeting between Morigami and Amanmuradova. One thing to be on the look-out for from each player would be the Amanmuradova serve and Morigami return. The 23-year-old Uzbekistani has struck 17 aces in three main draw matches, while the 27-year-old Japanese has broken serve 17 times in the same timeline.
(1) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) vs. (3) Sania Mirza (IND) - Chakvetadze leads, 1-0
A much-anticipated semifinal encounter between these two 20-year-olds has materialized, and it will take place under the Center Court lights as the feature evening match. Chakvetadze could be considered the favorite going in, having already claimed two titles this year and outranking her opponent by 30 spots on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings. But Mirza has always played well at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, getting to the quarterfinals in both her past tries, and she has looked incredibly strong all week, dropping 13 games in three matches. Additionally, the Indian has notched three Top 10 wins in her career, two coming in 2005 (over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova) and one in 2006 (over Martina Hingis).
These two have played once before, in the semifinals of a smaller event in Hobart just before the Australian Open in January, with Chakvetadze winning, 64 61. That win propelled her into the final where she beat countrywoman Vasilisa Bardina for her third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title. Watch for both players to stay on top of the baseline and look for opportunities to punish their big groundstrokes.
Both doubles semifinals will also take the court on Saturday with top seeds Mirza and Mattek taking on Latvian-Turkish combo Liga Dekmeijere and Ipek Senoglu while No.3 seeds Morigami and Aiko Nakamura square off against Russian-Belarusian combo Alina Jidkova and Tatiana Poutchek.
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