Vera Zvonareva fended off Sabine Lisicki, earning a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win on her fifth match point on Friday to lead the top three seeds into the semi-finals of the WTA San Diego Open. The top-seeded Russian will play resurgent Ana Ivanovic, who escaped from 1-4 down in the opening set to defeat China’s fourth seed Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-2. Ivanovic, the 2008 Roland Garros champion, has been re-booting her game with a new coach and trainer and is seeing her hard work pay off.
The Serb, a former world number one who is trying to improve on her 18th ranking, equalled her best showing of the season by reaching the final four. Ivanovic spun in an ace for a match point and advanced as Peng, who had her left hip taped in the second set, returned wide after 77 minutes. “It was my first night match,” said Ivanovic. “I’m happy I managed to calm down and get the break back. “Then I was back in the match, I’m very pleased.”
“Zvonareva will be a tough opponent, she’s just coming off a title. But it will be a good test for me to see where my game is and what I need to work on.” Zvonareva, twice a Grand Slam finalist in 2010, overcame six double-faults to triumph in two and a quarter hours. The Russian, who won her 12th career trophy in Azerbaijan last month, claimed her eighth consecutive win to drive her record in 2011 to 28-6 on hardcourts.
Second-seeded Andrea Petkovic earned a win for Germany as she motored past US teenager Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-1 in 66 minutes. Petkovic next faces third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who shrugged off a sore right shoulder to beat eighth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 0-6, 6-4, 6-4.
