LINZ, Austria - Nadia Petrova moved a step closer to securing a place in the WTA Championships, beating Austrian wild card Sybille Bammer 6-2 3-6 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the Linz Open.
The third-seeded Russian has twice stood by at the season-ending event in Los Angeles in case
a player withdrew from the eight-player field at the last moment with injury.
"Hopefully, third time I'll be working," said Petrova after achieving her 50th win of the season.
Petrova was stretched all the way by her 93rd-ranked opponent and she had to recover from 1-3 in the final set before claiming victory.
Bammer began well, but after failing to win a point that would have given her a double-break and 3-0 lead, she claimed just three points in the remainder of the set.
Having left the court for treatment for a right abdominal strain when down 5-2 in the first set, Bammer offered a far stronger challenge in the second.
She broke to lead 1-0, and although Petrova levelled at 3-3 by winning a 25-stroke rally, the Austrian left-hander took the next three games to level the match.
In the final set, Bammer broke to lead 3-1 when Petrova made a backhand error, but the Russian steadied and won the next six games as her opponent failed to maintain her momentum.
"I was playing very aggressively and wasn't missing much, but in the second set she really improved," said Petrova. "She wasn't missing anything. It was like playing against a wall. She's also very quick and she was getting to nearly every ball."
Petrova will face unseeded Ai Sugiyama or Kveta Peschke in one semi-final and eighth seed Ana Ivanovic will play fourth seed Patty Schnyder who walloped Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-1 in just 47 minutes.
Schnyder lost to Hantuchova in their previous two matches this year, but the Swiss found little opposition this time, at one stage winning seven consecutive games.
Earlier, in a match between two 17-year olds, Ivanovic of Serbia and Montenegro beat France's Tatiana Golovin 7-5 6-3 to reach her second semi-final in two weeks.
- REUTERS
