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No pain, no gain Kournikova overcomes injury to advance at Sea IslandPosted: Saturday May 10, 2003 1:31 AMSEA ISLAND, Ga. (AP) -- Anna Kournikova overcame an inconsistent performance and pain in her thigh Friday to reach the semifinals of the Cloister Cup. Kournikova, playing her first competitive tournament since injuring her left abductor muscle April 9, defeated Sunitha Rao in the quarterfinals 6-3, 6-3. But her thigh, tightly wrapped for the first time all week, gave her problems throughout the match. "Today was definitely the worst day," said Kournikova, who will face fellow Russian Maria Sharapova in Saturday's semifinals. "It's not doing very well." Playing her third match in three days, Kournikova was sluggish. She showed her frustration at times, slamming down her racket on one occasion, yelling in Russian in disgust on another. But when she needed to win points, she did. Kournikova finished the first set with back-to-back aces, then won the final three games of the second set to take the match. The 16-year-old Sharapova rallied to beat Kristina Brandi, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. Top-seeded Amy Frazier was eliminated, losing her quarterfinal match to No. 7 Christina Wheeler of Australia, 6-1, 6-1. In the other quarterfinal, fourth-seeded Bethanie Mattek beat No. 8 Janet Lee 6-2 in the first set. Lee retired after the set with an undisclosed injury. |
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