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Hingis, Schett sweep into Qatar semis
DOHA (Reuters) -- World No. 1 Martina Hingis swept into the semifinals of the Qatar Open on Friday with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Joannette Kruger of South Africa. The Swiss top seed will now take on Austria's fourth-seeded Barbara Schett, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Russian qualifier Lina Krasnoroutskaya, on Saturday for a place in the final. Hingis, the winner of 37 WTA tournaments, was broken in the very first game by Kruger before breaking back in the fourth and 10th games to secure the first set. Hingis' two-handed backhands and well-angled forehands often left Kruger helpless as she broke the South African four times over the course of the second set. Kruger managed to break her opponent in the first and seventh games, but Hingis dominated the eighth seed when it mattered most and coasted to an easy victory. The world No. 1 skipped the scheduled post-match press conference. Fourth-seeded Schett had an easy victory over Krasnoroutskaya. "I was expected to reach the semifinal and I lived up to it," said the Austrian. "I watched her (Lina) play yesterday and realized that she has a weak forehand. So my tactic today was to return the ball to her forehand side. And it worked as she made too many mistakes, making it somewhat easy for me. "I am not all nervous playing Hingis. I played her last about a year ago. Everybody will be expecting me to lose, that means there won't be any pressure on me." Saturday's other semifinal pitches French third seed Sandrine Testud against Czech player Adriana Gersi. Testud had few problems as her quarterfinal opponent Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia retired with a sore thumb after losing the first set 3-6. By contrast, Gersi had to overcome a spirited challenge from Dutchwoman Kristie Boogert before winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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