13 December 2007
Kirilenko blitzes Bychkova
Khaleej Times - By Edwin Ashie-Nikoi
DUBAI — Top seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia lived up to her billing as she demolished her compatriot, Ekaterina Bychkova 6-2, 6-2, for a berth in the semifinals of the ninth $75,000 ITF Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge at the Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa here yesterday.
The 20-year-old Russian, listed 30th on the ITF rankings, was in devastating form with a mixture of strong groundstrokes and volleys which wore her opponent down. Bychkova, 85 places below her opponent and seeded fifth here, tried all the tricks under her sleeve but to no avail.
Kirilenko faces a tricky semifinal match against New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic who upset fourth seed Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan with an easy 6-2, 6-1 win. Erakovic, with an ITF ranking of 161, put up a brave fight to frustrate her opponent’s efforts.
Eighth seed Evgeniya Rodina of Russia also put up a fine display to oust her countrywoman, Alla Kudryavtseva, seeded second, in three sets. Rodina took the opening set 7-5, but Kudryavtseva fought back to draw level by identical score. The opening stages of the third set was very close but Rodina slowly gained control through some fine serves and superb returns.
Kudryavtseva, ranked 82 on the ITF listing, 55 rungs higher than her opponent, battled well but in vain as her compatriot won 6-3 and the match.
Results: Quarter-finals: Maria Kirilenko (Russia) bt Ekaterina Bychkova (Russia) 6-2, 6-2; Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzbekistan) 6-4, 6-3;Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) 6-2, 6-1; Rodina Evgeniya (Russia) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.
Second round: Maria Kirilenko (Russia) bt Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 6-3, 6-3; Ekaterina Bychkova (Russia) bt Selima Sfar (Tunisia) 6-0, 6-2; Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) bt Irina Kuzmina (Latvia) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine) bt Monica Niculescu (Romania) 2-6, 7-6 (4) 6-0; Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzbekistan) bt Ekaterina Dzehalevic (Bulgaria) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4; Rodina Evgeniya (Russia) bt Anna Lapushchenkova (Russia) 6-1, 7-5; Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) bt Mervana Jugic-Salkic (Bosnia).
Doubles: Semifinals: Marina Erakovic (New Zealand)/Monica Niculescu (Romania) bt Caroline Maes (Belgium)/Teodora Mircic (Serbia) 6-1, 6-2.
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