Veteran tennis stars Patty Schnyder and Amelie Mauresmo proved that they’re still dangerous competitors on the tennis area after surging through to the semifinals of the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, a new premier claycourt event under the WTA tour calendar. Both players are unseeded in this event
Schnyder ousted no. 4 seed Jelena Jankovic 7-6, 6-3 while Mauresmo overcame a first set deficit by defeating Hungarian Agnes Szavay 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
In other quarterfinal matches, reigning world number one and last week’s Rome titlist Dinara Safina continued her winning streak on clay by beating unseeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-4, 6-3. It was Bondarenko who upset Rome runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier in the tournament, thereby spoiling a third consecutive encounter between the Russian players.
Danish player Caroline Wozniacki, on the other hand, stopped the dream run of Russian qualifier Vera Dushevina 6-0, 6-4. The win guaranteed Wozniacki’s debut in the world’s top ten in next week’s rankings.
In the semifinals, Schynder will face Safina while Mauresmo will battle against Wozniacki.
