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Safina powers through to U.S. Open semis

September 4, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) — Sixth-seed Dinara Safina overpowered 16th seed Flavia Pennetta 6-2 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Open, earning the right to play one of the Williams sisters for a place in the final.

Safina celebrates reaching the semifinals at Flushing Meadows after defeating Flavia Pennetta.Safina celebrates reaching the semifinals at Flushing Meadows after defeating Flavia Pennetta.

Safina, the sister of 2000 champion Marat Safin, reached her first semifinal at Flushing Meadows after her 37th victory in 41 matches — a run that has seen her reach the final in six of her last seven tournaments.

The French Open runner-up and Olympic silver medalist compiled hit an impressive 25 winners and was only broken once during the match.

The Russian’s victory, which took just 71 minutes to complete, always looked on the cards after breaking the Italian on her first service game before taking the first set at a canter with the winners flowing freely.

The second set was much the same story as Safina continued to get the better of the Pennetta service. Safina converted four of nine break-point chances in the match while allowing her opponent just one break-point opportunity.

It was not all plain sailing, however, with the 22-year-old Safina committing five double faults and 19 unforced errors in the course of the match.

At the start of the U.S. Open, Safina was one of six women with a chance to be ranked world No.1 at the end of the tournament.

Written by Hisham · Filed Under WORLD SPORT 

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