Last year’s US Open finalist Roberta Vinci held off Timea Babos 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) to advance to the semifinals of the Ladies Trophy in St.Petersburg.
Babos broke serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead at deuce. Vinci did not convert her break-back point in the next game. Vinci held her service game before breaking back. Vinci earned two break point chances at 5-5 but Babos saved them. The first set came dwon to the tie-break where Vinci prevailed 7-3.
Babos broke serve in the third game of the second set and saved two break points with two winners before clinching the second set 6-4.
Babos went up a break at the start of the decider and looked to be in control of the match leading 5-3 in the third set but in the 10th game she made a double fault at 30-40 which allowed Vinci to break when the Hungarian player was serving for the match.
In the tie-break Vinci survived a scare when she had to rally from 2-4 down by reeling off the next five points to clinch the win.
“Babos served so good, but today I played so-so. Especially at the beginning I was tight, so nervous but I stayed focused and I won a great match. It was a long and tough match. Timea has a great serve. It was tough for me to return for me. I was 5-3 down at the end, but I stayed focused and won a great match. In those moments you have to stay positive and don’t think about the score. In the end she was probably a little bit nervous and a little bit tight. She missed some easy balls and I won”, said Vinci.
Vinci will take on Ana Ivanovic, who beat Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Kozlova 6-1 7-5. The Serbian player dropped just 10 points in the first set to breeze past Kozlova in just 23 minute. Ivanovic faced a tougher second set in which Kozlova broke back twice at 0-1 and at 4-5 when Ivanovic was serving for the match. Ivanovic broke serve again in the next game and served out for the match.
Kozlova played her first quarter final at Premier level.
“She is a great young player, and in the second set she started to play more powerful. I tried to step up a bit, be more aggressive, hold my court position, and it worked well”, said Ivanovic.
Vinci has lost six of her previous nine matches against Ivanovic, although they have not met for two years.
“Ana is a great player. Of course i twill be a difficult match. But I am in the semifinals and I have nothing to lose, I will try my best. I need to be aggressive on every single point”, said Vinci.
Eighteen-year-old Daria Kasatkina came back from a set down to battle past Dominika Cibulkova 4-6 7-5 6-3. The young Russian player got an early break of serve but Cibulkova broke back in the sixth game. Kasatkina did not convert a point for 5-5 and was forced to deuce by Cibulkova who got the break to clinch the first set 6-4. Kasatkina pulled away to 5-2 but she dropped her serve in two consececutive service games. Kasatkina bounced back breaking serve again and served out for the second set.
Both players earned break points in the first four games of the decider but they managed to hold their serve. Kasatkina got the crucial break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Kasatkina held her next service games to qualify for her first semifinal in a WTA Premier Tournament.
Kasatkina will face a fascinating semifinal against her fellow teenager Belinda Bencic who also recovered from a set down to edge past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-2 in two hours and 33 minutes in a late night match which concluded after midnight. Bencic converted 11 of her break point chances.
After dropping the first set at the tie-break Bencic converted four of her ten break point chances in the second and the third sets.
Bencic was broken in three consecutive service games but managed to break back three times. Bencic rallied from 1-4 down in the tie-break to draw level to 4-4 but made three consecutive errors to drop the first set 4-7 at the tie-break.
Bencic broke serve twice to pull away to 5-1. Pavlyuchenkova reeled off three consecutive games to claw her way back to 4-5 but Bencic closed out the second set 6-4.
Bencic broke serve twice to cruise to a 4-0 lead. The Swiss teenager did not face any break points in the decider and converted the second of her three match points to clinch the third set with 6-2.
Bencic has extended her win-loss record to 2-1 over Pavlyuchenkova who beat her younger Swiss rival 6-2 6-4 in Washington last year.
Bencic is one win from reaching the top 10 and is one win away from her 150th career win.
Bencic and Kasatkina won the Roland Garros Junior singles titles respectively in 2013 and 2013. They have never met at WTA level.