The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Knee injury ends Serena’s hopes

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Knee injury ends Serena’s hopes

STANFORD (U.S.): Serena Williams’s march towards her fourth WTA title of the year came to a premature halt on Saturday, as an injured knee and Canadian qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak proved too much for the top seed.

Serena retired with a left knee injury while trailing Wozniak 2-6, 1-3 at the $600,000 hard court event here.

The Canadian will battle for the crown against the sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France, who defeated Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3.

Wozniak, ranked 85th in the world, showed no sign that she was intimidated by the 26-year-old American.

Bartoli in final

Wozniak will be attempting to capture her first singles title on Sunday when she takes on Bartoli.

The French player took a huge step toward getting her season revved up when she upset second seed and defending champion Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in the quarterfinals and claimed her first victory over Sugiyama in five attempts.

Sugiyama was up a break in the opening set and leading the fourth game 40-0 when she let Bartoli back in. The Japanese veteran lost that game to level the set 2-2 after her fourth double fault of the match.

Bartoli went on to win the set, and took the second without dropping serve.

The results: At Indianapolis (ATP Indianapolis championships): Semifinals: Gilles Simon bt Sam Querrey 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Dmitry Tursunov bt James Blake 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

At Kitzbuhel (ATP Austrian Open): Final: Juan Martin Del Potro bt Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 6-1; Semifinal: Del Potro bt Victor Hanescu 6-3, 7-6(5).

At Amersfoot (ATP Dutch Open): Final: Albert Montanes bt Steve Darcis 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Semifinals: Albert Montanes bt Oscar Hernandez 6-1, 6-3; Steve Darcis bt Marc Gicquel 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5.

At Umag (ATP Croatia Open): Semifinals: Igor Andreev bt Maximo Gonzalez 6-2, 7-6(2); Fernando Verdasco bt Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-3.

At Stanford (WTA Bank of the West Classic): Semifinals: Aleksandra Wozniak bt Serena Williams 6-2, 3-1, retd.; Marion Bartoli bt Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3.

At Bad Gastein (WTA Gastein Ladies): Final: Pauline Parmentier bt Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-4; Semifinals: Parmentier bt Agnes Szavay 6-4, 6-2; Hradecka bt Mariya Koryttseva 6-3, 6-2; Quarterfinals: Szavay bt Iveta Benesova 6-2, 6-2; Parmentier bt Yvonne Meusburger 7-6(3), 6-3; Koryttseva bt Tereza Hladikova 6-3, 6-1; Hradecka bt Patricia Mayr 6-3, 6-1. — Agencies