Tennis: Victors work hard in superb tussles

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Paola Suarez began like a train. Less than two hours later the Argentine express was left shaking her head - spectacularly derailed by Greek goddess Eleni Daniilidou in an amazing three-set quarter-final in the ASB Classic.

Daniilidou's come-from-behind 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 victory booked the tournament second seed a semifinal against unseeded Swiss and Auckland regular Emmanuelle Gagliardi this afternoon.

For the first 19 minutes of last night's feature, a semifinal spot was but the remotest of possibilities for Daniilidou.

Suarez, the fifth seed, hit centrecourt running, blasting the Greek No 1 into submission.

Dropping just five points, Suarez raced to 5-0, dropped the next game but broke back to win before many in the crowd had even taken their seats.

The second set was just as one-sided, but this time Suarez was on the receiving end.

She won a drawn-out first game but then Daniilidou won six straight in a 34-minute sweep.

The third set began more circumspectly.

Apart from a double fault, Daniilidou held serve comfortably. Suarez held even easier to love. Daniilidou went 2-1 ahead, broke Suarez for 3-1 but then surrendered that advantage.

At 3-2 it was still very much alive as both players produced some of the best tennis of the tournament.

Not for long.

Daniilidou broke again and then held.

At 5-2 victory was surely inevitable. But Suarez was not done with. She reeled off four straight games for 6-5.

She just needed to hold service for victory, but Daniilidou never gave her a chance.

Suarez fired three into the net and one long, losing the game to love.

After another of the great rallies the match had already produced, Daniilidou held for 1-0 in the tiebreak.

The points see-sawed to 2-2. Suarez fell behind, and never got back, hitting long and then into the net as Daniilidou won 7-4 to continue her love affair with a tournament she is playing for the first time.

Suarez at least had the satisfaction of being the first to take a set from the powerfully-build Daniilidou who kept her chase for a second WTA title on track.

Her semifinal with Gagliardi, which is second on court this afternoon, promises more of the same action.

The earlier semifinal between unseeded Yoon Jeong Cho and top seed Anna Pistolesi will, surely, be a more sedate affair.

Gagliardi, who lost to Anna Kournikova in a quarter-final a year ago, needed three sets again but this time came out on the right side against unseeded American Laura Granville.

Quickly into her work, Granville won the first game without dropping a point. Gagliardi quickly levelled at 1-1 before the 21-year-old American blasted off four games in a row for 5-1 and, after a marathon ninth game punctuated by a couple of double faults, won the set 6-3 in 40 minutes.

In an exact replica in reverse, 26-year-old Gagliardi won the first game of the second set, dropped the next but then whipped through four in a row before taking it 6-3 - again in around 40 minutes.

The decider was a super tussle with Gagliardi coming more on to her game. They held and traded service games to 4-4.

The crucial ninth game spelt the end for the brave Granville. She won the first point but was robbed of the second by a shocking line call. At 15-15 she was obviously flustered.

She dropped the next point but got back to 30-30 before netting a simple backhand. Gagliardi swooped to win the next point, playing the ball away from Granville into a wide open space, and then served out the match.



"I started really slowly. Maybe I was a bit tired," said Gagliardi. "I had to pick up my game in the second set which I did.

"She [Granville] is a good fighter. She plays flat which makes it hard. Even after losing, I had good feelings after the first set. I had to start moving my legs."

Gagliardi, a popular visitor to the Auckland tournament, said she had watched Granville's previous match. She did more reconnaissance last night as Suarez and Daniilidou slugged it out.

Doubles top seeds Cara Black (Zimbabwe) and Russian Elena Likhovtseva needed the bare hour to book their place in the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-2 quarter-final win over Australia's Catherine Barclay and German Martina Muller.

They are the only seeded combination still in contention.

Today's schedule

All centre court from noon:

Singles semifinals: 1-Anna Pistolesi (Israel) v Yoon Jeong Cho (Korea), Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Switzerland) v 2-Eleni Daniilidou (Greece), followed by doubles semifinal 1-Cara Black (Zimbabwe)/Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) v Alina Jidkova/Tatiana Panova (Russia).