Razzano causes her second big surprise

Virginie Razzano, the world number 58 from Nimes, scored her second win of the week over a top ten player to reach the biggest semi-final of her career in Dubai on Thursday.

The former French Open junior champion won 7-6 (9/7), 7-5 against Vera Zvonareva, the world number five from Russia, to reach the last four of the wto million dollar Dubai Open.

Razzano, who beat world number two Dinara Safina in the second round, and Daniela Hantuchova, a former top ten player in the third round, succeeded through a policy of flat, risk-taking attack which sometimes brought mistakes but usually put her in a dominant position in the rallies.

She often had Zvonareva, a clever player at constructing rally-winning patterns, trying to contain, or occasionally taking unjustifiable gambles at the net.

Zvonareva, who won the title at Pattaya on Sunday, claimed she had not been able to prepare properly for this week.

"I should have probably taken it a little bit more easily before this tournament," she claimed. "I tried to prepare myself physically and mentally to be ready for a three-hour match, but I felt I wasn't able to do that on a consistent basis," Zvonareva added.

Despite this Razzano was bold, enterprising and resilient in a two-hour 20-minute contest which fluctuated unpredictably, particularly in the second set.

Razzano looked as though she had got on top in the first set when she reached 5-3 and got to 30-0 when trying to close it out.

DUBAI, Thursday, AFP