Football
Reuters 18y

Tennis-Petrova faces doubles partner Groenefeld in Charleston

By Gene Sapakoff

CHARLESTON, S.C. April 14 - Nadia Petrova, seeking
back-to-back WTA Tour titles, will play her doubles partner
Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the Family Circle Cup semi-finals.

The second seeded Russian earned a commanding 6-2 6-0
victory over unseeded Colombian Catalina Castano on Friday to
set up the clash with the in-form 20-year-old Groenfeld.

The hard-serving German, seeded sixth, survived 13 double
faults to triumph 6-3 7-6 over fourth-seeded Russian Svetlana
Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open winner who won at Miami last
month to claim her first Tier I title.

Top seed and defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of
Belgium will play the winner of Friday's Patty Schnyder-Nathalie
Dechy match in the other semi-final.

Henin-Hardenne defeated Russia's Dinara Safina 6-4 6-1 to
give her a 14-0 career record on Charleston's green clay.

Petrova needed only 61 minutes to oust Castano.

"I really dominated my games," said Petrova, who won last
week at Amelia Island. "I had everything in my hands.

SHORT POINTS

"She played a few good points but I must say I just didn't
let her play the tennis she likes.

"She likes the heavy balls, to move a lot on the court. I
just tried to make the points as short as possible."

Petrova is 3-1 against Groenefeld in singles competition but
they have not met so far in 2006.

Groenefeld, who will be playing in her first Tier I
semi-final, has won 14 of her last 17 matches on tour.

"I hit a lot of double faults," she said, "but overall I
think I played very aggressive, hit a lot of good shots,
winners. I was always inside the court and not letting her
dictate. That, I think, was the key."

Kuznetsova has played this week with a heavy wrap over a hip
abductor strain that forced her to retire during a semi-final
last week at Amelia Island and she has also been putting ice
packs on her right elbow after matches.

Henin-Hardenne must reach the final to retain her number
three ranking behind number one Amelie Mauresmo and compatriot
Kim Clijsters. She will drop to fourth with a loss Saturday.

Despite her defeat, world number 48 Castano enjoyed a fine
tournament. She upset fifth-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova and
became the first Colombian to reach the quarter-finals of a Tier
I event since Fabiola Zuluaga in 2004 at Berlin.

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