Top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain has justified her favouritism with a hard fought three-set quarterfinal victory over Gisela Dulko of Argentina.
Medina Garrigues controlled the play throughout the first set racing to a 5-0 lead. Dulko fought back to win one game but was unable to save the set.
Trailing 3-0 in the second set, Dulko found her form breaking back against the fiery Spaniard to win 7-5 and take the match into a deciding set.
Dulko won the first game of the final set before Medina Garrigues took control winning the next six games to secure the match.
“I lost the second set but I could…breathe and I relaxed. When I come back it was time to play again…and I could win the third set.” Medina Garrigues said.
She will now face Alona Bondarenko in the semifinals after the Ukrainian’s straight sets win over China’s Jie Zheng earlier today.
“She (Alona Bondarenko) is a very good player, I’ve played against her two or three times and (they) always (were) really, really tough matches,” Medina Garrigues said.
Unseeded Italian Sara Errani has also progressed to the semis after beating Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens.