DUBAI: Desert Rain Semi-Final - 網球

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DUBAI: Desert Rain Semi-Final
24/02/2006:

Justine defeated Francesca Schiavone in a quarterfinal match earlier this
afternoon held over from the highly unusual heavy desert rain soaked previous
day in Dubai 6-4 7-5.

The fifth meeting between Justine, and Schiavone turned out to be less
problematic than their previous match in Sydney. The Belgian still wasn't at
her best, but was match tougher than a month ago fresh off her hiatus from
the tour. Justine took control of the set quickly, and broke Schiavone's
opening service game. She held a comfortable two break lead throughout the
first set, and closed it out upon a weak Schiavone service game. It was 6-4
in 50 minutes.

The second set featured the type of fight from Schiavone that was displayed
back in Sydney. The Italian broke the Belgian, and kept a one game lead until
the 9th game. Justine evened the score at 5-5, and challenged Schiavone to
hold her nerve. The tiebreaker was won by Justine to take the second set
7(7-5)-6.

Final Score 6-4 7(5)-6 in 1hr 47 mins


Justine is currently in the midst of a rain delayed semi-final against
Svetlana Kuznetsova which was halted at 17:00hrs in the late afternoon at
1(Ad-40)-1. If play does not resume tonight after 20:00hrs, this semi-final
will restart on Saturday. This is Justine's third semi-final in her third
tournament for the 2006 season. It's the 10th meeting between the Belgian and
the Russian. Their previous encounter was in Synday last month, with Justine
winning that semi-final 6-3 6-1. Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier today defeated
Amelie Mauresmo in their quarterfinal match for Dubai 7-6(11) 6-4.


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