CANBERRA, Australia -- Top seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of
Thailand rolled into the semifinals, but No. 7 Nathalie Dechy of
France was upset Thursday at the $110,000 Canberra Women's
Classic.
Tanasugarn swept past sixth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland,
6-2, 6-4, as she tries for her first career WTA Tour title.
"I just could never find my game, my rhythm," said Schnyder, who
lost to world No. 3 Venus Williams at last week's Australian
Women's Hardcourt tournament. "Everything I tried was just out.
You have such days in matches. It's just the kind of match you
have to forget."
Ranked 29th in the world and seeded 26th at next week's
Australian Open, Tanasugarn will face Lilia Osterloh of the
United States in Friday's semifinals.
Osterloh outlasted Dechy, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, in a 2 1/2-hour match.
Dechy had a chance to serve for the match with a 5-4 lead in the
second set but produced three consecutive double-faults.
"She double-faulted three times in a row and I definitely didn't
expect that," said Osterloh, who reached the quarterfinals at
five tournaments last year but had not gotten to the semifinals
since 1999 at Oklahoma City.
Australian qualifier Amanda Grahame rallied past Hungary's Petra
Mandula, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, and will face Israel's Anna Smashnova or
France's Emilie Loit in the semifinals.
Ranked 280th in the world, Grahame took advantage after Mandula
pulled a stomach muscle midway through the opening set.
"I suppose it's because there's no pressure on me," said
Grahame, who already has earned a wild card into the Australian
Open.
This event, which offers a $16,000 first prize, is one of the
final tuneups for the Australian Open.
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