Li, Wozniacki advance
Top ranked Caroline Wozniacki cruised into the next round and China's
Li Na had to endure a rain delay before booking her spot in the
semi-finals of the New Haven Open on Thursday.
Wozniacki remained undefeated advancing with a 7-5, 6-3 win over
American teenager Christina McHale.
Three-time defending champ Wozniacki has a perfect 15-0 career record
at the annual final tournament before the US Open, which begins in four
days.
Wozniacki broke McHale's serve in the eighth game of the second set
of the one hour, 42 minute centre court match.
China's Li endured several hours of rain delays before advancing with
a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 quarter-final victory over Russia's Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova.
Li will play Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska who beat fourth-seed
Marion Bartoli 7-5, 7-5. Wozniacki will face third-seeded Francesca
Schiavone, who advanced without hitting a shot after Anabel Medina
Garrigues withdrew due to a knee injury.
Medina Garrigues, who was seeking a third title of 2011, fell to the
ground and grabbed her knee after failing to convert a third match point
in the second set of her 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) victory on Wednesday.
With the start of the US Open looming on Monday, Medina Garrigues
said she didn't want to take a chance on making her knee worse.
She is the 30th seed for the final Grand Slam of the season and due
to take on a qualifier in the opening round.
Even as they battled to get through the day's matches, officials of
the Open tune-up moved up the start of the championship match on
Saturday in hopes of beating Hurricane Irene. The tournament is
scheduled to end on Saturday to allow players time to prepare for the US
Open.
Organizers moved the start time of the final four hours to 1:00 pm
(17:00 GMT) on Saturday. Hurricane Irene, packing winds of up to 185
kilometres (115 miles) per hour, has already brought destruction to the
Caribbean and Bahamas as it roars toward the East Coast of the United
States. AFP |