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Petrova overcomes Rubin

Seventh-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia, struggling with consistency but using a strong power game, upset No. 4 Chanda Rubin of the US 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Advanta Championships.

Also advancing to Saturday's semifinals were No. 2 Ameile Mauresmo of France, who beat American Lisa Raymond 6-3, 6-3; No. 3 Anastasia Myskina of Russia, who defeated German Marlene Weingartner 6-3, 6-1; and No. 5 Ai Sugiyama of Japan, who ousted ninth-seeded American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Petrova placed only 43 percent of her first serves in play but was dominant in other areas, converting 72 percent of those first serves into points. Rubin saved two set points at 5-3 in the first set, eventually forcing a tiebreak, and fought off three match points in the final set.

Mauresmo and Raymond started off evenly, both broken in their first service opportunities and were on serve at three games each, when Mauresmo broke Raymond and then made short work of the final two games to take the first set.

Sugiyama won the first set with relative ease, but Shaughnessy took the second set in seven games. Sugiyama took a 5-1 lead in the third, but Shaughnessy fought off six match points before losing.
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