Football
Associated Press 17y

Chakvetadze ousts Venus; Sharapova awaits in semis

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Venus Williams was bounced out of the
quarterfinals of the Acura Classic by Anna Chakvetadze as the No. 3
seed earned a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory Friday night.

Chakvetadze, who has won her past two tournamets on the WTA Tour, squandered the first set after leading 5-2. Chakvetadze, who double-faulted eight times in the match,
double-faulted three times to give the eighth, 10th and 12th games
to Williams, the last tying the set at 6. Included in that span
were two set points in the 10th game that Williams saved to tie the
match at 5.

Williams, the No. 10 seed, won the tiebreak after jumping out to
leads of 4-0 and 5-3.

Chakvetadze fell behind 3-1 and 5-3 in the second set before
bouncing back en route to winning her 12th straight match. Williams held a match point at 5-4, but she hit an
easy forehand volley into the net. Both players held serve to force
the tiebreak, won by Chakvetadze as she took advantage of several
errors by Williams.

The 20-year-old Russian handled Williams in the final set for an
impressive win over the reigning Wimbledon champion.

"It was the biggest win in my career, but I am already thinking
about tomorrow,'' Chakvetadze said. "I was fighting until the end.
I think that was why I won.''

Chakvetadze will face top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the
semifinals after her countrywoman defeated India's Sania Mirza 6-2,
6-1.

Williams committed 79 unforced errors in the two-hour, 32-minute
match, and was successful on just 55 percent of her first serves.

"I really don't know what to say right now,'' said Williams,
who won this event from 2000-2002. "I really wanted to win. I felt
like I could win it. I don't even know what to think right now. I'm
very disappointed.''

Patty Schnyder of Switzerland claimed her second straight upset
with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 4 seed Nadia Petrova to advance to
the other semifinal.

"She's a dangerous opponent with her big serve and her powerful
groundstroke,'' the 11th-seeded Schnyder said. "For me, it was
still a great win. I never expected to win it that easily.''

Petrova, ranked ninth in the world, was one of five Russians in
the quarterfinals.

Sharapova had little trouble for the third straight match.

"I'd rather take these matches than be playing 7-6 in the third
set out in the heat,'' said Sharapova, who has not won a title
since October.

No. 9 seed Elena Dementieva of Russia defeated countrywoman
Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4 for a semifinal berth against Schnyder.
Dementieva, a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, lost to Schnyder in
straight sets here last year in the semifinals.

"I've never played against Maria before so I got a little bit
nervous in the beginning,'' Dementieva said. "It was a quite
difficult match even though the score was easy.''

Schnyder is confident of making her first appearance in a final
in more than a year.

"I'm feeling great out on the court,'' she said. "The last
three days I know where my shots are going. Everything seems to be
working. I just want to keep it up for the weekend.''

Sharapova's victory was similar to her only other match against
Mirza a 6-1, 6-1 win at the 2005 U.S. Open.

"I think that from the beginning of the match, I played my
game,'' said Sharapova, ranked No. 2 in the world. "I thought I
did a really good job of serving well and stepping it up when I had
to.''

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