Semifinals Are Set At The Texas Tennis Open

The semifinal round begins tonight at the Texas Tennis Open.  The 32-player field for the inaugural WTA International event has been narrowed down to just 4 after Thursday’s quarterfinal action.

Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai stormed past Elena Baltacha of Great Britain 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the semis.  Rezai, whose world ranking had dipped from a career-high of 15 last year to 114 entering this tournament, had to go through the qualifying rounds just to get a spot in the event.  Rezai will face Angelique Kerber of Germany, another qualifier who rolled into the semis with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Sweden’s Johanna Larsson.

The other semifinal will feature Sabine Lisicki of Germany, ranked 22 in the world, who will face Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania.  Lisicki advanced with an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over Kateryna Bondarenko.  Lisicki has been the hottest player at the tournament, losing just 9 games over 3 matches.  Begu, ranked 46 in the world, defeated Anastasija Sevastova in straight sets to get to the semis.

In a doubles semifinal match, Alberta Brianti and Sorana Cirstea advanced to their first final with a victory over No. 3 seed Sofia Arvidsson and Casey Dellacqua.  Brianti and Cirstea decided to play together while on the plane to Dallas.  It has worked out well for them as they have knocked off the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds along the way to Saturday’s final.

Play begins tonight at 5:30 at the Hilton DFW Lakes Hotel in Grapevine.

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