WTA Baku – Saturday Semi-Finals Preview

Vera Zvonareva vs. Mariya Koryttseva

While other seeded players crashed out at Baku, top-seed Vera Zvonareva justified her billing by thwarting big challenge in her quarterfinal match and now she faces World No. 165 Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine in the semis, who has surprised many by coming this far in the tournament. Get ready for a scintillating tennis duel.

World No. 3 Vera Zvonareva of Russia brought all her experience into play on Saturday to rally past the 21-year-old Georgian Anna Tatishvili in three gruelling sets with a 7-5 6-7(4) 6-2 scoreline. The Russian will now take on World No. 165 Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine to secure her berth in the final of the 2011 Baku Cup. Mariya Koryttseva, did well to beat Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets with a 7-5 6-4 scoreline, in another quarterfinal match. The Russian started off the 2011 season on an average note and fell in the semifinals at the Australian Open to eventual champion Kim Clijsters. Zvonareva then rebounded nicely in Doha and claimed the Qatar Ladies Open WTA premier title after beating top-seed Caroline Wozniacki in the final. Zvonareva could not reignite her last year’s magic in both French Open and Wimbledon, where she finished as a runner up a year back. Obviously the Russian is a strong contender here in Baku.

Zvonareva’s opponent Mariya Koryttseva has not played much in WTA tournaments in 2011. The Ukrainian struggled with a bad form last year and this year she failed to qualify in WTA tournaments. This tournament offers her a good opportunity to redeem her position and give a second lease of life to her career.

This will be the second-meeting between the two contenders. Last time they met in 2009 in Istanbul, where Koryttseva stunned the Russian in three sets. Well, things have changed a lot since then and obviously Zvonareva is favourite to win this battle.

Ksenia Pervak vs. Galina Voskoboeva

Ksenia Pervak will face the challenge of Galina Voskoboeva on Saturday in the semi-finals of the Baku Cup 2011.

World No. 55 Ksenia Pervak has been in great form this week in Azerbaijan, and she now stands just two victories away from what would be a maiden WTA title. The seventh seed was up against Aravane Rezai on Friday, and managed to dominate the matchup and claim a 6-1, 6-2 win.

Pervak will now take on surprise contender Galina Voskoboeva in the semi-finals. Voskoboeva has recorded some superb victories here, including wins against fifth seed Monica Niculescu and second seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In this kind of form Voskoboeva appears to have a genuine chance of winning the title, regardless of her ranking (No. 162).

Voskoboeva will enter this contest with a 2-0 head to head record against Pervak, having beaten her in 2007 and 2008. That said, Pervak was barely ranked within the top three hundred when the pairing last met, and this time around Pervak should be considered the favourite.