Nadia Petrova sets up a semi-final clash with Roberta Vinci – Tournament of Champions 2012
World number 13, Nadia Petrova, bagged all three wins in the Round Robin of the Qatar Airways Tournament of Champions to top the Sredets Group. She booked a date with the 16th ranked Italian star, Roberta Vinci, who
lost an encounter in her Round Robin campaign to finish second in Group Serdika.
Both the above stated semi-finalist have a split head-to-head record in their four previous meetings. However, Vinci do have an upper hand coming into the encounter, as she has defeated the Russian superstar in their only meeting
of the current season in Estoril Open. Petrova will be eyeing a sweet revenge at the indoor hard courts of Sofia and that leads us to an exciting semi-final clash.
Petrova commented about Vinci, “Roberta is one of those tricky players - she uses a one-handed backhand and uses a lot of slice, which is unusual for the women's game and brings a lot of trouble for her opponents. But since we're
playing indoors the conditions are faster, so if I'm serving well and putting pressure on her service games and being aggressive, I hope tomorrow's match will be in my favour.”
The 30-year-old Russian has bounced back a set down twice in the tournament to beat her compatriot, Maria Kirilenko, as well as the local number one, Tsvetana Pironkova. The only convincing win for the former world number three
came against the Chinese star, Jie Zheng, who lost in straight sets.
On the other hand, the 29-year-old Italian has recorded two straight sets triumphs against the Slovak star, Daniela Hantuchova, and the Taiwanese tennis ace, Su-Wei Hsieh. However, she lost to the top seeded Dane, Caroline Wozniacki,
in her second Round Robin clash that forced her to surrender the possibility of topping the group.
The whole scenario leads us to a situation that is bound to register some mesmerizing tennis in Bulgaria. Petrova is searching for a revenge on the Italian veteran whilst the fourth seed Vinci is looking to keep her hopes alive
in the contest and reach the grand finale of the tournament.
The other semi-final will take place between the 11th ranked Dane, Caroline Wozniacki, and Bulgarian number one, Tsvetana Pironkova, who has made it to the last four stage with just one win under her belt. However, the
home crowd will be at her back all the time; chanting her name and praying that there tennis icon reaches the grand finale of the contest.
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