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| 24 May 2002 | |
| Dabul and Morel set up semifinal showdown |
Quarterfinals day in Milan went according to plan for the top seeds in the girls' singles, Myriam Casanova (SUI) and Barbora Strycova (CZE), who remain on course to meet in Sunday's final.
Casanova, seeded no. 1, today removed the last standing qualifier, Ekaterina Bytchkova (RUS), losing just three games 60 63. Sixteen-year-old from Altstatten has already captured a Grade A title this year, the Banana Bowl in Brazil and followed up this success by reaching the final a WTA Tour event in Hungary as a qualifier. The Swiss remains the only player to have defeated world no. 1 Australian Open Champion Barbora Strycova (CZE) this year, the players met at the Australian Hardcourt Championships and at the Banana Bowl.
No. 3 seed Petra Cetkovska (CZE) reached her second semifinal in as many weeks. Today the Prostejov resident squeezed past no. 5 seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER). Cetkovska was made to work hard for her victory 76 67 75, she will now face Casanova in tomorrow's semifinal.
In the bottom half of the draw, no. 2 seed Barbora Strycova (CZE) overcame Zsuzsanna Babos (HUN) 63 75. The Australian Open champion will now face Maria Kirilenko (RUS) who today won the battle of the Russians, defeating no. 10 seed Vera Douchevina 64 61. Kirilenko who was born in Moscow, took the title in Santa Croce last week and this latest win brings her winning streak to 9 matches.
In the boys competition top seed, Brian Dabul (ARG) yet again faced a three-set battle. Today he took on Jo-Wilfried Tsong (FRA), the Australian Open semi-finalist, winning 63 57 61. His opponent in the semifinal will be Australian Open champion Clement Morel (FRA). Morel had a tough time getting past the last Italian Andreas Seppi, eventually winning 67 61 75.
The Dabul versus Morel semifinal promises to be a great match. Dabul, on paper, has had better results on clay, having been runner-up at the 2001 Roland Garros and 2002 Banana Bowl but in their previous two meetings Dabul has never beaten Morel. They have met once on clay - in Brazil 2001 and once on hardcourt this year. Their match at the 2002 Australian Hardcourt Championships went down to the wire, the final score 61 46 75.
Lamine Ouahab (ALG) for the second consecutive year has reached the semi-finals here in Milan. Today he ousted 16 year-old Tomas Berdych (CZE) 64 62. Ouahab, from Hussein-Dey, has never gone beyond the semifinals of a Grade A tournament before and he will be hoping to break that jinx tomorrow when he takes on Steve Darcis (BEL). Darcis ended the run of tournament youngester 14 year-old Michael Zverev 64 62.
Photographs by Francesco Panunzio
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