Roberta Vinci has beaten two Top 10 players at a tournament for the first time and is now through to her biggest WTA semifinal – but it doesn’t get any easier from here, in more ways than one.
Roberta Vinci continued to carve out one of the very best weeks of her career on Thursday, beating Sam Stosur to reach the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Vinci’s big serve and big forehand – and her lethal backhand slice – were hitting their targets throughout the match against the No.7-seeded Stosur, as she raced through the first set and fought back from 2-0 down in the second set to reach the semifinals in straights in an hour and 18 minutes, 62 64.
“It was a great match for me, a great performance,” Vinci said. “She has a great serve, a great kick serve, and for me it was difficult to return because I have a one-handed backhand. But today I played aggressively on the court when I could and it was a good game for me, just like it was yesterday.”
There was one shot Vinci stayed away from. “She has an unbelievable forehand,” Vinci said. “I had to play a lot to her backhand, and I tried to change from slice to topspin when I had the time.”
It doesn’t get any easier, though, and not just in an on-paper sense – next up for Vinci is her best friend on the tour, No.5 seed Sara Errani, who rebounded from a second set lapse to beat Nadia Petrova in three sets, 64 06 63. Petrova actually won more points than Errani in the match, 105 to 104.
Errani and Vinci aren’t just best friends on the tour, they are also the No.1 doubles team in the world together – their respect for each other was never more evident after they played each other in the US Open quarterfinals last year, with Errani winning but her totally silent celebration saying it all.
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