Vaidisova Passes Quarterfinal Test

Seventh-seeded Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic became the first semifinalist at the 2006 Acura Classic as she overcame a slow start and defeated Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a quarterfinal match on Stadium Court.

On a sunny and breezy day at the La Costa Resort and Spa, Chakvetadze scored an early service break in the first set and built a 5-2 lead. After Vaidisova held serve at love, Chakvetadze proceeded to serve out the set at love at to win the set in 37 minutes.

The second set featured seven service breaks, but the one that mattered most occurred as Chakvetadze served to stay in the set at 4-5. She double faulted to fall behind 30-0 and would go on to lose serve as Vaidisova tied the match at one set all.

In the third and final set, Vaidisova served two aces in the opening game to hold serve. She would later score an important service game in the fourth game and hold serve to take a 4-1 lead.

With Chakvetadze serving a 5-2 to stay in the match, Vaidisova had a match point at 30-40, but the 19-year-old Russian slammed a backhand crosscourt winner to get to deuce. Vaidisova hit two backhands long as Chakvetadze held serve to make the score 5-3.

Serving for the match, Vaidisova had her second match point at 40-15 but pushed a crosscourt forehand wide. At 40-30, the match, which took two hours and seven minutes, ended as Chakvetadze netted her crosscourt forehand service return.

• Vaidisova advances to Saturday’s semifinals where she will meet the winner of the Kim Clijsters / Martina Hingis match.
• Vaidisova is ranked 12th in the world.
• Vaidisova improves her 2006 match record to 31-10.
• Vaidisova improves to 2-0 in head-to-head meetings with Chakvetadze.
• Vaidisova is making her Acura Classic debut.
• Vaidisova reached the 2006 French Open semifinals.
• Chakvetadze is ranked 31 in the world.
• Chakvetadze was making her second career Acura Classic appearance. She reached the quarterfinals last year.
• Chakvetadze is a member of the Russian Fed Cup team.

Click Here for more Match Summaries.