Cincinnati (US) July 21: Third seed Sania Mirza put up a ruthless display against Belarussian Olga Govortsova to breeze into her first-ever singles semifinal at the 175,000 dollar Cincinnati Open tennis tournament here.

This is the first time Sania made it into the last four after being eliminated in the quarterfinals in the last two editions of the WTA hardcourt event.

''You want to win at any stage of the tournament, but it (the score 6-1, 6-1) does give you extra confidence. You're in the quarterfinals, so you're playing the best eight, and you get an easy win,'' the 20-year-old Hyderabadi said.

She now runs into world number eight and top seeded Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, who is playing in the tournament for the first time.

Chavetadze, who had beaten Sania in staright sets in their only meeting, progressed to the last four after her opponent Elena Vesnina, seeded sixth, retired with a right shoulder strain.

Vesnina was trailing 6-7 (3/7), 6-0, 4-1 when she conceded the match.

Sania has been enjoying a dream run in the event, advanced to the semifinals of the doubles too. She booked her third straight quarterfinal berth with a 6-2,6-2 win over Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan.

Withdrawals of several players due to injuries, including Serena Williams, Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, defending champion Vera Zvonareva and last year's runner-up Katarina Srebotnik, have also made it easier for Sania to advance into the semis.

UNI







>