Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Saturday's semifinals are now set at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, as top-seeded Belgian Justine Henin will meet fourth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic and sixth-seeded Maria Sharapova will take on her seventh-seeded fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
Friday's Sharapova-Ivanovic winner would not have to face the world No. 1 Henin here on Saturday, and it worked out for the 2004 Championships victor Sharapova, who dismantled her fellow 20-year-old Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2 on the fourth and final day of round-robin play on the hardcourt at Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo.
Sharapova pasted Ivanovic in 1 hour, 10 minutes, as she recorded five service breaks, compared to zero for the overmatched Serb.
The Australian Open runner-up and former world No. 1 Sharapova was a perfect 3-0 in this week's four-player Red Group, while the French Open runner-up Ivanovic went 2-1. The group was rounded out by eighth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova (1-2) and second-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (0-3). Hantuchova took the place of Wimbledon champion Venus Williams (dizziness) in the exclusive eight-player field.
Henin captured this week's Yellow Group, at 3-0, followed by Chakvetadze (2-1), alternate Marion Bartoli of France (1-1) and third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic (0-3). The Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli replaced an injured Serena Williams here on Thursday. The fifth-seeded Williams, this year's Australian Open champ, pulled out here with a left knee injury after losing to Chakvetadze, 6-4, retired, on Wednesday night.
In a pair of meaningless matches on Friday, Hantuchova handled the former U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova 7-6 (9-7), 6-0 and a 10th-ranked Bartoli was leading Jankovic 6-1, 1-0 when the Serbian retired due to an illness. The busy Jankovic led the WTA Tour with a whopping 72 match wins in 2007.
On Saturday, Henin will meet Ivanovic for a third time in their careers. The Belgian is a perfect 2-0 lifetime against the Serb, including a victory in this year's French Open finale. The amazing Henin leads the tour with nine titles already this season.
The other semi will pit Sharapova against Chakvetadze, for a sixth time. The two-time major titlist Sharapova is a flawless 5-0 all-time versus her compatriot, including three wins in as many tries this year. Sharapova beat Chakvetadze in this year's Aussie and French Open quarterfinals.
Prior to this event, the reigning U.S. and French Open titlist Henin had already clinched the year-end top-ranking for a second straight season and for the third time in five years and is currently riding a torrid 23-match winning streak.
The seven-time Grand Slam event titlist Henin defeated France's Amelie Mauresmo in last year's Championships finale here in Madrid, which will give way to Doha as the tournament's host city next year.
The winner of this $3 million event will collect $1 million, while the runner- up will claim $500,000.
Zurich, Switzerland (Sports Network) - Third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo of France were a trio of second-round upset victims Wednesday at the $1.34 million Zurich Open.
Jankovic was straight-setted by Czech slugger Nicole Vaidisova 6-4, 6-4. A struggling Jankovic has now dropped her last two tournament-opening matches and has lost four of her last six outings overall.
Vaidisova will meet Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko in Friday's quarterfinals here.
The fifth-seeded Ivanovic was sent packing by surging Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin 6-3, 6-1, while an eighth-seeded Mauresmo was knocked out by Bondarenko 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 at Hallenstadion. Golovin has won 13 of her last 15 matches, including a title in Slovenia last month and a runner-up finish against the great Justine Henin in Stuttgart just two weeks ago.
One other second-round result saw ninth-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France dismiss Dutch wild card Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 6-1. Bartoli will meet the surging Golovin on Friday.
In opening-round action, Italian Francesca Schiavone got past injured Russian Elena Dementieva 4-6, 6-1, 4-2, as the two-time major finalist Dementieva retired in the third set due to a left thigh injury. Dementieva was fresh off her big title in Moscow, where she upset former top-ranked star Serena Williams in the finale.
With her second-round exit here, Dementieva will fail to qualify for this year's season-ending Tour Championships in Madrid.
"Obviously I'm very disappointed about the result of the match and disappointed also that I couldn't have made it to Madrid," Dementieva said.
Schiavone will encounter 2002 titlist and 2005 Zurich runner-up Patty Schnyder of Switzerland here on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, a top-seeded/world No. 1 Henin will open her stay here against Russian Vera Zvonareva and second-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova will take on Austrian Sybille Bammer.
The reigning U.S. and French Open champion Henin captured this Swiss event in 2003. The Belgian stalwart is riding a 16-match winning streak, with her last loss coming against Bartoli in the Wimbledon semifinals.
The 2007 Zurich titlist will take home $182,000.
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (Sports Network) - French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic and last week's Portoroz champion Tatiana Golovin were among the winners Wednesday, while third-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova went by way of the upset at the $600,000 Fortis Championships.
The second-seeded Ivanovic moved into the quarterfinals by handling a wild card, Luxembourg's own Anne Kremer, 7-5, 6-4, while the eighth-seeded Golovin stayed hot by downing Romanian wild card Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round on the indoor hardcourts at CK Sport Kockelscheuer. The Serbian Ivanovic and three other seeds received opening-round byes this week.
The French Golovin has won her last six matches, including a victory against Katarina Srebotnik in this past Sunday's finale at the Slovenia Open. Her second-round opponent here on Thursday will be last year's Luxembourg runner- up, Francesca Schiavone.
Surging Belarusian Victoria Azarenka ousted Petrova in 6-2, 6-1 fashion to reach the quarterfinals.
One other second-round match saw Russian Vera Zvonareva take out seventh- seeded Israeli Shahar Peer 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, while one other first-round bout saw sixth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder shut down Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1, 6-3. Bondarenko's sister Alona captured this tournament last year by beating Schiavone in the final. Alona Bondarenko lost to Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli here on Tuesday.
Zvonareva will meet Azarenka in Friday's quarterfinals.
This week's top seed is Russian Anna Chakvetadze, who will open her stay against American Meilen Tu on Thursday.
The 2007 Luxembourg titlist will claim $88,265.
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Fifth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic and two-time champion Venus Williams were among Wednesday's second-round winners at the U.S. Open.
The French Open runner-up Ivanovic, considered among the pre-tournament favorites, drilled France's Aravane Rezai 6-3, 6-1. The Serb's third-round opponent will be Russian Vera Dushevina, who beat her compatriot Ekaterina Bychkova 6-4, 6-3 on Day 3 here.
A 12th-seeded Williams waltzed past Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-4, 6-2 on the grounds at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The reigning Wimbledon champion Williams captured the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001 and was the runner-up here in 1997 and 2002.Nineteenth-seeded Austrian Sybille Bammer handled American veteran Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 6-3, while a mild upset occurred when Russian Ekaterina Makarova topped 28th-seeded Japanese Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Saturday's semifinals are now set at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, as top-seeded Belgian Justine Henin will meet fourth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic and sixth-seeded Maria Sharapova will take on her seventh-seeded fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
