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Hantuchova beats Chan to make semis

Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in action yesterday during her match against Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan at the WTA Tour Tournament in Bali, Indonesia. PHOTO: EPA

Top seed Daniela Hantuchova battled past Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-2 to join Nadia Petrova and Patty Schnyder in the Bali Open semi-finals yesterday.

Slovakia’s Hantuchova, last year’s runner-up, negotiated an opening set littered with eight breaks of serve and saved two set points before taking the lead on a tie-break.

But Chan, a semi-finalist in Strasbourg in May, leveled at a set each before Hantuchova eventually steadied to claim victory in just over two-and-a-half hours.

CRUSHED

Second seed Patty Schnyder had it much easier as she crushed Marta Domachowska 6-2, 6-2 in the 57th-ranked Pole’s first quarter-final of the season.

“I made few early errors and had a great start,” said the Swiss US Open quarter-finalist.

“I think the way I played my game she doesn’t really like, when she has to adjust to the balls, my speed and the height of it. So that was a big advantage for me,” Schnyder said.

Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan reacts after a point during her quarter-final match at the WTA Tour Tennis Tournament in Bali, Indonesia, yesterday. PHOTO: EPA

Earlier Russian fourth seed Petrova overcame a ragged start to beat Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-3.

Petrova recovered from 4-1 down in the first set, then raced away for her third consecutive straight-sets win against the fifth seed.

“I had a poor start and I got mad at myself,” said Petrova, competing in Bali for the second time. “I didn’t like the way I was playing.”

“I wasn’t giving the right fight out there, I realized that and started doing something about it,” she said.

“In the second set I felt more in charge and confident on serve. Overall, I’m happy with the performance,” she said.

DOUBLES

In the doubles semi-finals No. 3 seeds, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai of China, defeated unseeded pair Olga Savchuk of Ukraine and Ipek Senoglu of Turkey 6-3, 6-3.
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