Maria Jose Martinez Sanches reach Bali semifinals after beating Samantha Stosur

Maria Jose Martinez Sanches reach Bali semifinals after beating Samantha Stosur

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez upset Samantha Stosur 7-6 7-5 and reached the semifinals of the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali.

Stosur broke Venus Williams’ record of the fast serve after hitting a 208kph serve. The WTA said the record was pending verification.

Aravane Rezai, Marion Bartoli and Kimiko Date Krumm also made it into the semifinals.

Bartoli made it through after defeating Shahar Peer 6-3 6-2. Date Krumm benefited from the withdrawal of Yanina Wickmayer.

Vera Dushevina was called in to replace Wickmayer, and she defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 2-6 6-1 7-5 to leave the Spaniard with a win in her two matches. Date Krumm advanced as a result of her 1-1 record in her round robin matches.

Bartoli was aggressive today and kept her Israeli opponent under constant pressure. Bartoli’s only nervous moment came when she was leading 4-2 in the second set and Peer held two break points.

“I had to stay really focussed at the end because there are so many matches against Shahar when I was winning a set and 4-1 or 3-0 and she was coming back to beat me in three sets,” Bartoli said. “I guess the game when I was 4-2 up and 15-40 down and still held my serve was really important.”

Source Reuters
Photo AP