Kuznetsova survives scare to reach semi-finals in Rome

ROME, May 19 (Reuters) Seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova came back from the brink of defeat to beat Italian qualifier Romina Oprandi 6-4 5-7 7-6 and reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open in Rome today.

She next faces fellow Russian Dinara Safina, who beat fifth seed Elena Dementieva 6-1 6-1.

On paper, the contest between 2004 US Open winner Kuznetsova and Oprandi -- ranked 133 in the world and playing in the main draw of a WTA tournament for only the second time in her career -- looked like a mismatch.

After two tight sets, however, the Russian found herself a break down in the decider and had to save match point as she served to stay in the contest.

Kuznetsova made life hard for herself from the start, committing a series of unforced errors to lose eight of the first nine points before finding her range to break back in the eighth game. She then put a lob over Oprandi to break again in the 10th game and take the first set.

In the second set, the players twice exchanged breaks of serve before Oprandi seized control, rallying to force Kuznetsova into pushing a forehand long to drop serve in the 11th game.

The decider was just as tense. Kuznetsova netted a volley and fired a backhand wide to put Oprandi a break up in the seventh game.

FOREHAND WINNER Oprandi created a match point in the ninth game, but drifted her next service return fractionally wide and Kuznetsova clung on to hold serve and break back to take the match into a tiebreak. She concluded with a forehand winner and a winning service return.

''It was very tough to play her. I'd never played her before and I wasn't playing well. I'm not happy with my game today. I'm just happy to win but I had to fight until the end,'' said Kuznetsova.

''I think it was experience in the end. I said to myself 'I'm going to put the ball in and just see if she can keep hitting those winners'.'' Asked if she felt confident ahead of her semi-final against 16th seed Safina, Kuznetsova replied: ''I'm very happy for Russia -- it's a very good effort for the country, though if I play like this I don't think I'll go much further.'' Safina enjoyed a much easier passage past Dementieva, who sprayed a succession of shots long and wide and whose exit left Kuznetsova as the highest-ranked player in the event.

''I think the tournament is really open now, you know,'' said Safina. ''It's just a matter of who fights more and has more eagerness to win.

''It will be a great match against Kuzy. We know each other very well. I'm just going to have to concentrate like I did today.'' In the later quarter-finals, former world number one Martina Hingis takes on 15th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy, while ninth seed Venus Williams faces Serbian Jelena Jankovic.

REUTERS DKS KN2154