Generali Ladies Linz 2010: Patty Schnyder beats Daniela hantuchova to reach the semis
Former winner, Daniela hantuchova suffered defeat at the hands of her Swiss opponent, Patty Schnyder in the quarter final round of 2010 Generali Ladies Linz singles' competition on Friday. The final match score was 4-6, 4-6.
Meanwhile, another former champion, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia overpowered a tough challenge from her German foe, Julia Goerges to progress at Linz. The score line was 7-6 (8/6), 6-2.
Patty had earlier lost her last five clashes with Daniela, including a loss in the title battle for Linz back in 2007. However, her last win over the second seed Slovakian was also at Linz, back in 2005.
Although, both fought hard in their yesterday's match but Patty’s greater versatility gave her an edge in the end. She looked strong from the baseline and a backhand volley at the net provided her the opening break at 2-2.
Despite the fact that Daniela quickly tied the score at 3-3, Patty wasted no time in forcing a backhand error to once again take the lead at 5-4. She won the first set when the chair umpire ruled that Daniela had smashed the ball
long.
The twenty seven year old Hantuchova couldn’t take the advantage of two break point chances in the second set and after battling off three break points at 3-3, the Monte Carlo resident surrendered her serve at 4-4.
Later, Patty, while commenting on her victory, said, "I have so much respect for her (Daniela hantuchova) and she is such a great player. We had some great rallies, particularly in the opening set. The following set was a little
dramatic and I think I should have won a little bit easier. I had so many opportunities, however she is a great competitor and I am glad to be in the final four."
On the other hand, Ana consistently held the advantage over Julia in a hard fought encounter however, she did struggle to win the first set.
The Serbian broke to secure a lead of 4-2 but couldn’t close out the set on her serve at 5-3. She then managed to earn three set points on her foe’s serve at 5-4 while also preventing a set point in the tie-break and at last she
won the set during her fourth set point.
The Basel resident, who is currently ranked number twenty nine in the world, had come off her appearance at the 2010 China Open in Beijing where she got the better of Marion Bartoli in the opening match. The right hander successfully
made her way into the quarter final after beating Elena Dementieva on the second occasion in 2010 but the twenty two year old was toppled in the final eight at the hands of the new world number one, Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. As a result of her quarter
final run, the Serbian has jumped into the top thirty WTA rankings list.
Ivanovic, after the match when asked about her opponent, said that she is a great player and it was a tight match. However, she is glad that she won it in the end and made it into the semis. The Serbian will definitely be hoping
to reach the title battle of Linz.
Moreover, the sixth seed Andrea Petkovic from Czech Republic also concluded the run of Eleni Daniilidou, a qualifier from Greek in a two setter clash on Friday. The final match score was 6-3, 6-2.
Roberta Vinci also triumphed in an all Italian clash, defeating Sara Errani in three sets with a score line of 5-7, 6-3, and 6-4. In the final four battle, Petkovic will take on Schnyder whereas Vinci will meet Ana Ivanovic.
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