Hantuchova & Ivanovic win to set up semi-final showdown
AEGON CLASSIC Birmingham, England June 6-12, 2011 $220,000/International Grass/Outdoors
Friday, June 10, 2011
Singles - Quarterfinals (2/WC) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Mirjana Lucic (CRO) 63 64 (3) Peng Shuai (CHN) d. Marina Erakovic (NZL) 64 46 63 (4) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. Alison Riske (USA) 62 64 Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. (14) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 76(1) 64
Doubles - Quarterfinals (2) Govortsova/Kudryavtseva (BLR/RUS) d. Lertcheewakarn/Tatishvili (THA/GEO) 63 63 (3) Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Aoyama/Fujiwara (JPN/JPN) 64 46 106 Dellacqua/Scheepers (AUS/RSA) d. Cirstea/Erakovic (ROU/NZL) 61 46 119
http://www.lta.org.uk/
Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic will play each other in the AEGON Classic semi-finals after both won their last eight matches on Friday.
Hantuchova, the Slovakian fourth seed, defeated Alison Riske 6-2, 6-4 whilst Ivanovic, the No.2 seed from Serbia, won 6-3, 6-4 against Mirjana Lucic.
"It's great to be in another semi-final here," said Hantuchova, who was in the Edgbaston semi-finals back in 2001, "My first set was great, the second I made more complicated, but overall I felt good on the court.
"I enjoy playing on grass, I'm happy enough. I enjoy Birmingham, it's great preparation for Wimbledon."
Following the first match of the day on Centre Court was Ivanovic who came through in relative ease against fellow European player and former Wimbledon semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic.
The Serb didn't see it as a comfortable win: "It was a very tough match, she served well, so I'm very happy with the win. The second set there were a few breaks early on, it was a strange start, so I was really happy when I was able to hold.
"I'm enjoying competing again, I feel good on the grass, it has good memories for me. I really like the courts here, even the practice courts are great, and everybody uses them."
When asked about their semi-final match up both Hantuchova and Ivanovic seemed to think they were the second favourite. "It will be a good test," said Ivanovic, "She's played extremely well the last few months, so she's the favourite."
Whereas Hantuchova said, "I'm looking forward to the match, I have nothing to lose, there's no pressure on me, she's expected to win."
In the doubles quarter-finals there was a win for Italian third seeds Errani & Vinci who beat Aoyama & Fujiwara 6-4, 4-6 10-6 and they will now play American top seeds Huber & Raymond.
There was also a semi-final berth for second seeds Govortsova (BLR) & Kudryavtseva (RUS) after they defeated Lertcheewakarn (THA) & Tatishvili (GEO) 6-3, 6-3.
