Petrova reaches Linz semi-finals

LINZ, Oct 27 (Reuters) Nadia Petrova continued the defence of her Linz Open title with a comfortable 6-1 6-3 win over Australian Samantha Stosur to reach the semi-finals today.

Stosur performed well in the first two games but then simply faded away.

A double-fault gave the second-seeded Russian a break for 2-1, a netted backhand a further break for 4-1, and another double-fault gave Petrova the set.

Petrova dominated the second set by hitting some crisp volleys and rallying strongly from the baseline. She needed just one break of serve to secure victory and will next face Czech Nicole Vaidisova.

The fourth seed overcame Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 5-7 7-6 6-4.

Jankovic mixed up her game with a greater variety of shots but was overpowered by an opponent who fired 20 aces.

The Serbian sixth seed had the edge in the first set as Vaidisova struggled to find her range and hit five double-faults.

Although Vaidisova recovered an early break to level at 3-3, Jankovic regained the advantage to win the set.

After winning the second-set tiebreak 7-5, Vaidisova finally rattled Jankovic in the third game of the decider. A netted backhand from Jankovic gave Vaidisova a 2-1 lead and she kept her focus to win the match..

Mary Pierce's season came to an abrupt end when she was diagnosed as having ruptured a cruciate ligament. The twice grand slam champion collapsed on court yesterday while playing Vera Zvonareva.

Reuters DH DB2248