Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - World No. 1 star Justine Henin was among Friday's quarterfinal winners, as was U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova, who drove out Australian Open titlist Serena Williams at the $650,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The top-seeded Henin held off unseeded two-time major runner-up Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-4, 6-4 at Porsche Arena. The reigning French Open and U.S. Open titlist Henin was the Porsche runner-up in 2001 and 2003.
Henin has now won her last 14 WTA Tour matches, including titles in Toronto and at the U.S. Open. The gritty Belgian has only lost once in her last 31 outings, and that came against France's Marion Bartoli in the Wimbledon semifinals.
The high-flying Henin's semifinal opponent on Saturday will be third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who knocked out seventh-seeded and defending Stuttgart titlist Nadia Petrova 6-7 (5-7), 5-1, as the Russian retired due to a nagging hip injury. Petrova defeated France's Tatiana Golovin in last year's finale here.
A second-seeded Kuznetsova dismissed a sixth-seeded Williams in 6-3, 6-3 fashion on Day 5 here. The eight-time major champion and former world No. 1 Williams has failed to advance beyond the quarterfinals in her last six events, dating back to April.
In one other quarterfinal clash, a surging Golovin grounded Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3, 6-4. Golovin, who titled in Slovenia just two weeks ago, will face the former U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova in Saturday's other semi.
The 2007 Stuttgart titlist will claim $92,410.
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - In a rematch of last year's French Open final, Justine Henin and Svetlana Kuznetsova will square off in Saturday's title match at the 2007 U.S. Open.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Henin held off 12th-seeded American Venus Williams 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in the second of Friday's semifinals at Ashe Stadium. The steady Henin has yet to drop a set at this '07 fortnight.
The first set was extremely tight before Henin was able to dominate in the tiebreak. The Belgian then ran out to a 3-0, 40-15 lead in the second set, only to see Williams fight back to level things at 3-3.
Henin fought off three break points in the seventh game of the second stanza, went on to win the game and ultimately advanced three games later by breaking Williams, who sent one final backhand wide after two hours of hard-hitting tennis.
Williams wound up with 35 unforced errors and had her serve broken four times en route to defeat. The American broke Henin on three occasions.
Henin improved to 2-7 lifetime against Williams, who had won their previous seven matchups, dating back to 2001, a year in which the American topped the Belgian in the Wimbledon finale. Williams was a perfect 3-0 in their Grand Slam meetings before Friday, but the two had never met in New York.
The 25-year-old Henin handled Williams' younger sister Serena in straight sets in a quarterfinal here on Tuesday night. It marked the third straight Grand Slam quarterfinal victory for Henin against Serena in the last few months.
Henin owns six major titles, including her third straight and fourth overall French Open championship earlier this season. The diminutive Belgian was last year's U.S. Open runner-up to Russian superstar Maria Sharapova and titled here in Flushing back in 2003.
The 27-year-old Venus also owns six major titles, including a fourth Wimbledon championship in July. The former top-ranked star captured the U.S. Open back- to-back in 2000 and 2001 and is also a two-time runner-up in the Big Apple.
Henin will seek her 36th career title, and has already captured six this season. She'll appear in her 11th career Grand Slam final (6-4) and will compete in her sixth major title bout in her last seven tries. Henin appeared in all four Grand Slam finals last year, skipped this year's Aussie Open and captured Roland Garros back in June.
Kuznetsova will appear in her second U.S. Open final in four years after beating her fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze on Day 12.
The fourth-seeded Kuznetsova overcame the sixth-seeded Chakvetadze 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 on another sunny day at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Kuznetsova advanced in 1 hour, 36 minutes after playing a shaky first set. Chakvetadze was unable to sustain any momentum after taking the first stanza, and wound up losing 12 of the final 13 games to bow out in a sloppy affair.
Chakvetadze struggled mightily and finished with 46 unforced errors and four double faults. Kuznetsova, herself, misfired for 35 unforced errors.
Kuznetsova is now 3-0 lifetime against the 20-year-old Chakvetadze, who was appearing in her first-ever major semi.
The St. Petersburg native Kuznetsova captured the 2004 U.S. Open by beating Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian final and she was last year's French Open runner-up to Henin.
The 22-year-old Kuznetsova will appear in her 21st career final (9-11), which includes a victory in New Haven the week before this Open fortnight commenced. She's 1-4 in her 2007 finals and currently riding a 10-match overall winning streak.
Henin is a dominant 14-2 lifetime against Kuznetsova, but the Russian did win their last meeting in Berlin earlier this year. Henin is 2-1 in their 2007 meetings, including a win in a final in Dubai.
The gritty Henin is a perfect 4-0 versus Kuznetsova in their Grand Slam matchups, but they've never met at the U.S. Open.
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Martina Hingis were a pair of second-round winners Thursday at the U.S. Open.
The fourth-seeded Kuznetsova, of Russia, got past France's Camille Pin 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 on Day 4 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The two-time major finalist Kuznetsova was the surprise U.S. Open titlist in 2004 and last year's runner-up to Justine Henin at the French Open.
Kuznetsova's third-round opponent will be Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues.
A 16th-seeded Hingis handled France's Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 7-5. The "Swiss Miss" captured the U.S. Open in 1997 and was the runner-up here in 1998 and 1999. The five-time major titlist hasn't captured a major since the '99 Aussie Open.
Sixth-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze moved on with a 6-3, 6-4 decision against veteran Aussie Nicole Pratt, while 11th-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder shut down France's Severine Bremond 6-3, 6-0. The surging Chakvetadze, who reached quarterfinals at this year's Aussie and French Opens, will battle Indian Sania Mirza in the round of 32.
Eighteenth-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer pasted American Bethanie Mattek 6-2, 6-1, while a 26th-seeded Mirza handled American Laura Granville 6-3, 7-5 and a 31st-seeded Medina Garrigues leveled her compatriot Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5, 6-2.
A mild upset came when rising 16-year-old Austrian Tamira Paszek took out 24th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 7-5.
Capable Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko whipped Croatian Jelena Kostanic Tosic 6-2, 6-1. Vakulenko, who has already beaten the likes of former world No. 1s Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters this season, toppled ninth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova in the opening round here.
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Martina Hingis were easy second-round winners Tuesday at the U.S. Open.
The 2004 titlist Kuznetsova, seeded fourth at this 2007 fortnight, handled Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 6-3 on Day 2 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The two-time major finalist from Russia was last year's runner- up at the French Open.
The solid Kuznetsova, fresh off her hardcourt title in New Haven last week, will face France's Camille Pin in the second round here.
The 16th-seeded Hingis waltzed past France's Mathilde Johansson 6-0, 6-3. The former world No. 1 and five-time major titlist Hingis was the U.S. Open champ in 1997 and the back-to-back runner-up in 1998 and 1999.
The Swiss Hingis' second-round opponent will be another Frenchwoman, Pauline Parmentier.
Eleventh-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder pasted Czech Iveta Benesova 6-3, 6-0, while 13th-seeded Czech slugger Nicole Vaidisova vaulted past Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 6-2. Vaidisova is playing her first tennis since early July after being sidelined with a mono-like illness.
A mild upset came when Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova dismissed 23rd-seeded Italian Tathiana Garbin 6-4, 6-3.
Other seeds to advance were No. 26 Indian Sania Mirza and No. 30 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. Mirza snuck past Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1.
New Haven, CT (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova got past her countrywoman Elena Dementieva on Friday to reach the final at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament, a final U.S. Open tune-up.
Kuznetsova was leading the sixth-seeded Dementieva 4-6, 6-3, 3-0 in their semifinal on the hardcourts at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale when Dementieva retired due to nausea, amid steamy conditions. The two-time Grand Slam runner-up Dementieva also succumbed to Kuznetsova in the 2004 U.S. Open finale.
Dementieva double-faulted 12 times on Friday.
"I'm just a little sick," Dementieva said. "It was really humid and hot out there."
The 22-year-old Kuznetsova's quarterfinal opponent also retired here, as Kuznetsova was leading Francesca Schiavone when the Italian called it quits on Thursday.
Kuznetsova's final opponent will be Hungarian qualifier Agnes Szavay, who rallied to beat Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in a semifinal match that went 2 hours, 17 minutes.
The 18-year-old Szavay had advanced to the semis with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko, and had never faced Daniilidou coming in.
She's also never battled Kuznetsova, who will appear in her 20th career WTA final and is seeking her ninth overall title. She's a disappointing 0-4 in her 2007 finals thus far after losing in Qatar, Indian Wells, Berlin and Rome.
Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - World No. 1 star Justine Henin was among Friday's quarterfinal winners, as was U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova, who drove out Australian Open titlist Serena Williams at the $650,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
