The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sucha to meet Jankovic

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 02, 2004

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Sport - Tennis

Sucha to meet Jankovic

BUDAPEST, MAY 1. Martina Sucha of Slovakia and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia-Montenegro will meet in the final of the Budapest Grand Prix after winning their respective semifinal matches on Saturday.

Sucha upset sixth-seeded Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, while Jankovic beat Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-3, 6-4. Sucha and Benesova exchanged breaks through the first two sets, but Sucha overcame Benesova's tactic of constantly playing to her rival's backhand in the third set and was able to close out the match with ease.

"It was as tough a match as I expected," said Sucha, who on Sunday will be aiming for her second career WTA title. "Serving was not a big advantage since there were many breaks. I began to play very well in the second set and I had very good returns."In the other quarterfinals, Pennetta defeated Croatia's Sanda Mamic 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, and eighth-seeded Jankovic blanked Slovak Ludmila Cervanova 6-0, 6-0.

Bhupathi-Hanley pair

crashes out

Meanwhile, the top-seeded pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Paul Hanley lost in the quarterfinals. Bhupathi and his Australian partner were beaten 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 by the unseeded Spanish duo of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.

Kuznetsova in final

In Warsaw, fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia eliminated the ninth seed, Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals of the J&S Cup on Saturday. Second-seeded Venus Williams beat third-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva in the other semifinals.

The results:

At Barcelona (Open Seat Godo): Quarterfinals: Kristof Vliegen bt David Nalbandian 7-6(1), 6-4; Gaston Gaudio bt Gustavo Kuerten 3-6, 7-6(5), 2-1 (retd.); Albert Montanes bt Agustin Calleri 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3.

At Warsaw (J&S Cup): Semifinals: Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-2; Venus Williams bt Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2. Quarterfinals: Schiavone bt Amelie Mauresmo 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1; Kuznetsova bt Silvia Farina Elia 6-1, 6-4; Vera Zvonareva bt Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi 6-3, 7-5; Venus Williams bt Magdalena Maleeva, Bulgaria, 6-1, 6-0.

At Munich (BMW Open): Semifinals: Nikolay Davydenko bt Luis Horna 6-4, 6-1. Quarterfinals: Olivier Rochus bt Alexander Waske 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

At Budapest (Budapest GP): Semifinals: Jelena Jankovic bt Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-4; Martina Sucha bt Iveta Benesova 4-6, 7-5, 6-0. Quarterfinals: Sucha bt Petra Mandula 5-7, 6-2, 6-3; Benesova bt Aniko Kapros 6-2, 6-1; Pennetta bt Sanda Mamic 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; Jankovic bt Ludmila Cervanova 6-0, 6-0.

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