Rezai, with a perfect 2-0 group record like Bartoli’s, on Thursday was the first to reach the final four.
Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm earned a place earlier yesterday when Belgian Yanina Wickmayer quit on news of her one-year ban for missing doping tests.
Wickmayer, the world No. 18, was suspended on Thursday by the Flemish Doping Tribunal for failing three times to fulfill the controversial “whereabouts rule.”
Date Krumm was joined by Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, a winner over Australian second seed Samantha Stosur 7-6 (7/4), 7-5.
Bartoli advanced on the first of three match points after four breaks of her opponent’s serve.
Australian Stosur, a doubles standout who is trying to fashion a top-level singles career after reaching the Roland Garros semis this season, was unable to capitalize against Martinez Sanchez in their group showdown.
Stosur fired seven aces, but was weighed down by six double-faults in a patchy serving effort. The 25-year-old broke her Spanish opponent twice in the second set, but dropped her own serve three times to eventually go down after just over two hours.
In the late match, Germany’s Sabine Lisicki defeated Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-4.
■TAIPEI LADIES OPEN
STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
The Taipei Ladies Open continued yesterday at the Taipei Arena with Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen meeting Regina Kulikova of Russia.
Chang broke Kulikova’s service in the fourth game, to win the first set 6-3. In the second set, Chang took further advantage and broke Kulikova’s service in the third game, while holding serve perfectly, going on to win the match 6-3, 6-4.
The victory sent Chang’s ranking from 102 into the top 100 and that means that she gains direct access to next year’s Australian Open and will not have to qualify.
Chang said that she was happy with her performance, that she was in control of her game and that she was able to employ the strategies that she wanted to. She did not let her previous losses to Kulikova get her down and she was totally focused on the match at hand, she said. Chang said this makes her stronger, which applies pressure on the opponent and makes her make mistakes.
Chang uses a 340g racket, probably the heaviest used by a Taiwanese woman player. She said she has been working on muscular endurance with the racket for two years and no longer finds it heavy.
Yesterday’s other singles results:
• Ayumi Morita (Japan) defeated Rika Fujiwara (Japan) 6-1, 6-4
• Chan Yung-jan (Taiwan) defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7)
• Kristina Mladenovic (France) defeated Sophie Ferguson (Australia) 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-3
Yesterday’s doubles results:
• Y Basuki (Indonesia) and R Zalameda (US) defeated E Sema and Y Sema (Japan) 6-3, 6-3
• Chan Chin-wei (Taiwan) and Yan Zi (China) defeated Chang Kai-chen (Taiwan) and A Morita (Japan) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3)
ADDITONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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