MOSCOW, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka took a straight-set victory Friday that boosted her into the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow.
Azarenka topped No. 7-seeded Alisa Kleybanova 6-1, 6-3. She dropped serve just once while recording five breaks in the eight games served by Kleybanova.
No. 6-seeded Maria Kirilenko had the easiest time in Friday's quarterfinals, beating Zarina Diyas 6-1, 6-2 in 66 minutes. Kirilenko won 65 percent of the points in the match and lost only nine points in seven service games.
Eighth-seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez got past Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-3 in earning a spot in the semis. Martinez Sanchez kept pressure on Cibulkova, creating 14 break-point chances and finishing off six of them.
Vera Dushevina capped the quarterfinals round with a 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) win over Anna Chakvetadze. The second set was a seesaw event with both players dropping serve twice. Chakvetadze built an early lead in the tie-breaker before falling to a final Dushevina comeback.
Saturday's semifinals have Azarenka playing Martinez Sanchez and Kirilenko going against Dushevina.
The winners of those matches move to the Sunday title match with a first-place check of more than $150,000 up for grabs.
UPI
