Maria Sharapova overcame a spirited performance by Nadia Petrova, her Russian compatriot, to book a place in the semi-finals at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
The world No 4 will now face the Justine Justine Henin-Hardenne, seeded eight, who outlasted Lindsay Davenport, the top seed.
Sharapova’s match was notable for the number of errors both players committed rather than the style of tennis expected at the quarter-final level. However, a gritty fightback by Sharapova eventually saw her home 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 after Petrova failed to capitalise on numerous chances.
Petrova, seeded six, started the clash in the best possible fashion with an easy break of Sharapova’s opening service game. However, she soon allowed the former world No 1 to break her serve several games later in response.
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Petrova regained the lead with two more important service breaks in the first set, but each time Sharapova managed to break back and the set was forced into a tie-break. Petrova quickly went 6-4 ahead with a serve to take the set but it was Sharapova who dug deep to win 8-6 after her opponent double faulted.
The former Wimbledon champion then broke Petrova’s service game to start the second set and pulled further in front with another service break to lead 4-1. However, Petrova continued to fight back and managed to break her opponent’s next service game to make the contest a little tighter.
But Sharapova ran away with the second set after holding off three break points to serve out the match.
Henin-Hardenne battled back from a set down to oust the top-seeded Davenport, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. It was the third time the Belgian player, seeded eight, has defeated Davenport at the Australian Open and the latest victory means the American will lose her world No 1 ranking when revised placings are released on Monday.
It also extends Henin-Hardenne’s unbeaten run in Australia to 19 matches, including the Australian Open and Sydney International warm-up tournaments in 2004. She she did not tour Down Under last year because of injury, but has recovered to No 6 in the world.
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The quarter-final clash pitted the top seed against the bookmakers’ favourite to win the tournament. Davenport, 29, struggled against some of her early opponents in Melbourne with an ankle injury and she appeared to be suffering again today, not daring to run from the baseline to pick up Henin’s drop shots.
Neither player started the match well, with all but two of the first set games going against serve. Davenport won two breaks to Henin-Hardenne’s one in an error-strewn first three games. The American was the first to hit her stride, holding serve in the fourth then breaking Henin-Hardenne in the next to shoot to a 4-1 lead.
Henin-Hardenne, who had not dropped a set in the early stages of the tournament, then rediscovered her fighting qualities against an opponent she has dominated in recent years to break back. But Davenport yet again snatched a break from her opponent and served out the set after 34 minutes, claiming victory when Henin-Hardenne fired a backhand into the net.
She slumped to 2-6 loss in the second set with Henin-Hardenne appearing more mobile as she tightened up her game. The pair again exchanged breaks in the third before Henin-Hardenne finally took the upper hand.
Meanwhile, in the men’s draw Marcos Baghdatis, the unseeded Cypriot player who beat Andy Roddick in the last round, fought his way into the semi-finals with a five-set defeat of Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3. The 54th-ranked Baghdatis, the big surprise of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, looked headed for a straight sets victory but was dragged into a five sets by his Croatian opponent, seeded seven. Baghdatis will now play on Thursday for a place in the final.
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It was the 20-year-old’s third win over a seeded player at the tournament, after eliminating Radek Stepanek, the 17th seed, before Roddick and Ljubicic. Baghdatis also remains unbeaten in five-set matches at 5-0 and becomes the first unseeded player into the Australian Open semis since Marat Safin in 2004.
Ljubicic, who had not dropped a set heading into the match, played tentatively and committed three times more errors than Baghdatis, whose forehand was again a big weapon as it was in his upset of Roddick. Baghdatis had the measured Ljubicic under pressure from the start and had eight break points before he broke the Croat’s service in the ninth game of the opening set.
Ljubicic’s first break point didn’t come until the fourth game of the second set and Baghdatis fended off two break points to hold serve and then broke Ljubicic’s next serve a second time to take the second set.
But the match turned late in the third set when Baghdatis was broken for the first time after double-faulting and netting a stretch volley. Ljubicic found renewed confidence and momentum and broke Baghdatis in the fourth game of the fourth set on the way to levelling the match. Baghdatis made a screaming backhand cross-court passing shot to break Ljubicic’s serve in the fourth game of the deciding set to lead 3-1.
As he did against Roddick, Baghdatis calmly served out the match and wrapped it up on the first of his two match points.
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Results from Melbourne Park
Women’s singles: Quarter-finals: Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Nadia Petrova (Rus) 7-6, 6-4; Justine Henin-Hardenne (Bel) bt Lindsay Davenport (USA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Men’s singles: Quarter-finals: David Nalbandian (Arg) bt Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 7-5, 6-0, 6-0