DOHA – World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki stayed on course for her second straight title in the Gulf with a commanding win over Italian Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals of the WTA Qatar Open on Thursday. The 20-year-old Danish superstar posted a clinical 6-2, 6-0 victory over the 15th-ranked Italian to set up a semifinal clash with Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, who earlier in the day thrashed China’s Peng Shuai 6-2, 6-2.
Pennetta, who is playing in Qatar for the first time, began sensationally by breaking Wozniacki in the very first game of the match, but that proved the only bright spot for her as the Dane raised her level of play and breezed to victory. “I am very happy to make the semifinals,” Wozniacki, who won the Dubai Open last week, said, adding that the fourth game when she broke back was the turning point of the match.
“I had to go for my shots in the game. That was the key,” added Wozniacki who promptly put on a Liverpool jersey after the match to show her support for the club. Earlier, Bartoli completed a swift demolition job of China’s Peng Shuai to storm into the last four.
The world number 18, who is unseeded in Qatar, hardly gave Peng a chance to find her footing in another hopelessly one-sided match to win 6-2, 6-2 and stay on course for a possible sixth title on the WTA Tour. On Wednesday, Vera Zvonareva qualified for the quarters after breezing past Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-2.
