Wimbledon 2011 champion Petra Kvitova and 4th seeded Victoria Azarenka secured semifinal berths at the prestigious ending $4.55 million WTA Championships in Istanbul.
Istanbul / NationalTurk – Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Vera Zvonareva in a three-set thriller to leave the Russian only mathematical chances of reaching the semis at the WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
Zvonareva, who needed a win in her third and final Red Group game in order to progress, had a great start to match, storming past her rival 6-1 in the opener. Another Russian player in Turkey, Maria Sharapova, withdrew from the season-ending tournament because of an injury.
The third-seeded Kvitova (2-0) upended world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki (1-2) in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, in only 1 hour, 24 minutes on Day 3 in Istanbul WTA Championships.
WTA Championship Istanbul : World # 1 Wozniacki out
The 21-year-old Wozniacki, who led the WTA with six titles this year and was last year’s WTA Championships runner-up to Kim Clijsters, needs some help if she wants to reach Saturday’s final four.
“I have been feeling tired, and to get a little bit sick now, that’s not the best if you want to beat the top players,” Wozniacki said. “Today, Petra played well. And of course I wish I could have been 110 percent, but my body just didn’t want the things that I wanted today.”
Kvitova currently leads the four-player Red Group, which also features Wozniacki, sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva (1-2) and No. 8 seed Agnieszka Radwanska (1-1). The Polish Radwanska, who has won two of her last three tournaments, outlasted the Russian Zvonareva 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 on Thursday.
In White Group action on Thursday, the Belarusian Azarenka (2-0) whipped fifth-seeded French Open champion and Australian Open runner-up Li Na of China 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour-and-a-half. The red hot Azarenka is fresh off her title in Luxembourg last week.
Russian hottie Maria Sharapova saw an early exit due to an injury.
The 2011 WTA Championships winner will collect at least $1.75 million of prize.
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