Kaia Kanepi beats Petra Cetkovska to book a spot in the semi-final – Estoril Open 2012
A gruelling three-setter between the sixth seed Estonian, Kaia Kanepi and the fourth seed Czech, Petra Cetkovska, lasted for two hours and 18 minutes before the 26-year-old Estonian bagged the triumph 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and ousted the
superior seed to register the first upset of the Thursday at the Estoril Open.
A serve hold for the Estonian was followed with an exchange of breakthroughs in the opening set that kept the scores together. The second breakthrough for the Estonian in the sixth game pushed her ahead of her opponent and gave
a lead of two games that was further enhanced to 5-3 with a serve hold. Serve holds from both players in the following two games ended the opening set in favour of the 34th ranked Estonian.
Despite losing the opening set, the fourth seed Czech kept her calm and bounced back with an early breakthrough in the second session of the match. However, she squandered that lead in the sixth game after committing a couple of
unforced errors.
It seemed like the match will not be stretched to its length but everyone in the arena was brought back to life after Cetkovska regained her lead in the eighth game. She held her serve to enforce the third set into play.
Both players started cautiously in the final set and registered serve holds before trading breakpoints in the fourth and fifth game. Scores were tied at 3-3. It was the turning point of the match. The Estonian clinched a tight
serve hold and broke serve at the most critical stage of the match that forced the Czech to break back immediately to keep the set alive. Cetkovska failed to do so and lost the match that provided massive entertainment for the Portuguese tennis fanatics present
at the arena.
Next up for the sixth seed Estonian is the top seed Italian, Roberta Vinci. They have met each other on two different occurrences and Kanepi has lost both of them. However, considering her supreme form this year, there is a huge
possibility of an upset in the semi-final. The stakes are high and so players are ready to put their bodies on the line to clinch the red clay court title in Portugal.
Earlier in the day, Vinci ousted another Russian seed, Nadia Petrova, in a taxing three-setter to inch one step closer to the crown. Other two winners include Karin Knapp and Carla Suarez Navarro who will contest for the final
spot as well.
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