Unseeded Elena Likhovtseva of Russia upset former world No. 1 Jennifer Capriati of the US 6-2, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup on Friday.
No. 2 seed Amelie Mauresmo of France also advanced to the semifinals by beating 12th-seeded Karolina Sprem of Croatia 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Mauresmo is vying to win for the second time in three years.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Likhovtseva will play third-seeded Anastasia Myskina of Russia, the French Open champion who downed 13th-seeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria 7-5, 6-1. Earlier this year, Likhovtseva beat Myskina on clay at Rome but lost to her on a hardcourt in Doha, Qater.
"She's my best friend, so it will be really hard for us," Myskina said of Likhovtseva. "I just hope it's a good match."
Mauresmo will face 10th-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who easily defeated 16-year-old Russian-born teenager Tatiana Golovin of France 6-3, 6-1 in a match interrupted for 30 minutes by rain. Mauresmo has won all three of her previous meetings with Zvonareva.
It is the second week in a row that three Russians have reached the semifinals of a WTA tournament. Last week in San Diego, Myskina, Zvonareva and Elena Dementieva reached the semis.
The Kazakhstan-born Likhovtseva ran down nearly every ball from fifth-seeded Capriati in an intense baseline battle between two 28-year-olds on the hard-court at Uniprix Stadium.
"I knew I had to control Jennifer [from the baseline] from the beginning," said Likhovtseva, who has three wins in seven career meetings with Capriati. "But she played well, too."
Capriati recovered from a 5-3 second-set deficit to tie it 5-5, but Likhovtseva held service and then saw Capriati make unforced errors on the final two points of the match. Capriati, who won the tournament in 1991 and has been a finalist three times, is recovering from a hamstring injury and was in her first tournament since Wimbledon.
"She played her best," Capriati said. "It's like that every time and when I'm not 100 percent on my game, it just makes it more difficult. It opens the door for them to win."
Mauresmo got a scare from the hard-hitting, 19-year-old Sprem, who controlled the first set with a blazing serve that reached up to 190kph, as well as fierce groundstrokes.
She broke Mauresmo's serve in the first game, but she struggled with her own service while Mauresmo took over with a steady baseline game. Sprem made 42 unforced errors.
"She played really well in the first set," said Mauresmo. "But when you hit the ball with the intensity that she does and put 100 per cent into every shot, you can't put every ball in, otherwise you're No. 1 in the world.
"I just waited a bit and thought: If this lasts, what can I do? But when you put intensity into every shot, it's a risky game because at the end of the match, there's a lot of unforced errors and I guess a lot of winners, too."
With the third set tied 3-3, Sprem doubled-faulted twice to hand Mauresmo a lead the world No. 3 would not relinquish.
Cincinnati Masters
AP, Mason. Ohio
The only thing missing from Andre Agassi's comeback was a little confidence. A 26-point tiebreaker gave him more than enough.
Agassi won a nerve-testing first-set tiebreaker Friday night, then closed out a 7-6 (12), 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Carlos Moya that sent him to his first tournament semifinal in five months.
Agassi will play No. 2 Andy Roddick in the semifinals of the US$2.5 million Cincinnati Masters. Lleyton Hewitt faces unseeded Tommy Robredo in the other semi-final.
Agassi, 34, wasn't even sure he would play in Cincinnati until a few weeks ago, when he was still recovering from an inflamed hip that forced him to skip Wimbledon.
The hip was fine when he arrived. The confidence was another matter.
One unforgettable tiebreaker cured that, too.
"That was definitely one for the memories," Agassi said, after riding the crowd's emotions to his 806th career win, tying Stefan Edberg at fifth place on the career list.
When the tournament opened on Monday, Agassi wasn't tough enough to pull off such a win. In five days, he's come a long way.
"I'm much more committed to everything I do now than I was at the start of the week," Agassi said. "A tiebreaker like that could have exposed my confidence."
Instead, it multiplied it.
The 14-12 tiebreaker was so enthralling that Agassi got caught up in the moment. When he tied it at 9 with an overhead slam, Agassi headed back to the baseline to serve. Moya went to the bench and sipped a bottle of water.
Agassi had forgotten that it was time for a break.
He fought off six set points during the tiebreaker. Moya survived three before two errant shots finally decided the 61-minute set.
Moya dumped a backhand into the net, giving Agassi a 13-12 lead and a chance to serve it out. Moya dropped his racquet in frustration and bent over for several seconds following the pivotal shot.
Moya then sailed a forehand, and a crowd that has supported Agassi from the outset erupted with raised fists.
"Every point is so crucial, so it can take a lot out of you emotionally," said Agassi, seeded 11th. "Every point is like a break point. It gets a little nerve-racking."
The crowd was on its feet again in the third set, when Agassi guessed right and gained control. He broke Moya's serve by anticipating where he was going with an overhead slam, returning it from the baseline for a 5-3 lead.
Agassi survived four break points in the final game before closing it out with a nasty forehand into the corner.
"I had my chances and didn't make any of them," a dejected Moya said, referring to the tiebreaker. "I took risks and didn't make them. After that, he played even better than he was in the first set."
Roddick overpowered wild-card entrant Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-3 to set up a rematch with one of his favorite players. Agassi befriended him when he was 17 years old, beat him twice that year, and has a 4-1 career record against Roddick.
Windy conditions in the afternoon helped decide one of the matches. Hewitt kept his poise and beat Marat Safin 6-4, 6-4.
Tenth-seeded Hewitt, who hasn't lost a set during the tournament, took advantage of 30 unforced errors by Safin, who got frustrated by the 15mph wind.
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