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| Lindsay Davenport 225 w |
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (Ticker) - Lindsay Davenport again had Amelie Mauresmo's number at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.
Davenport defeated the world's top-ranked female, 6-4, 7-5, on Thursday night in the marquee quarterfinal of the $1.275 million co-ed event.
The seventh-seeded American, who has missed much of the season with back problems and a concussion, improved to 5-0 all-time against Mauresmo at this event and to 12-3 overall with nine straight victories against the Frenchwoman.
The top seed in the $600,000 Tier II women's draw, Mauresmo also is seeded first at next week's U.S. Open, where she hopes to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2002 to win three Grand Slams in a year.
But she will enter the year's final major with a loss after getting broken five times, including on four occasions in the second set. The players recorded six straight breaks before Davenport held in the final game.
Davenport will face Samantha Stosur in Friday's semifinals after the Australian lucky loser defeated Marion Bartoli of France, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0, in the first match of the day.
In the bottom half of the draw, No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium outclassed Italian lucky loser Mara Santangelo, 6-2, 6-3.
The two-time reigning French Open champion next will face fifth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated third-seeded countrywoman Elena Dementieva, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Kuznetsova also beat Dementieva to win the 2004 U.S. Open title.
The quarterfinals also were taking place in the $675,000 men's event.
The top remaining seed, No. 2 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia routed eighth-seeded Belgian Olivier Rochus, 6-4, 6-2, in a night match.
The winner will play No. 15 Robin Soderling in the final four after the Swede cruised past Austrian lucky loser Jurgen Melzer, 6-3, 6-2.
Also, No. 10 Agustin Calleri of Argentina outlasted No. 14 Nicolas Massu of Chile, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. He next will face No. 13 Xavier Malisse of Belgium, who bested 12th-seeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.