CARLSBAD, United States: Former US Open champion Samantha Stosur and Virginie Razzano notched upset victories yesterday to set up a semi-final clash at the WTA Tour’s Southern California Open.
Fifth-seeded Australian Stosur ousted second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
French wild card Razzano continued her remarkable run at the $795,707 US Open tuneup with a 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 7-6 (10/8) triumph over third-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova.
Razzano, who has also beaten two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and eighth-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro this week, saved two match points in the third-set tiebreaker en route to the victory.
The three-hour, 35-minute match was the second-longest on the WTA Tour this year, behind Bethanie Mattek-Sands’ three-hour, 42-minute victory over Anastasia Rodionova on the clay courts of Charleston in April.
Razzano took a 5-3 lead in the third set, but let three match points slip away. Kvitova, a former Wimbledon champion, served for the match at 6-5, but Razzano broke her to force the decisive tiebreaker.
Kvitova rolled to a 5-2 lead, but Razzano rallied and sealed it on her fifth match point. AFP
