Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Collin Matiza
10 October 2008
Harare — Cara Black and Liezel Huber remained on course for winning the Kremlin Cup doubles title for the second year running after reaching the semi-finals of the US$1,34 million tennis tournament in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday.
The top-seeded pair of Zimbabwe's Black and American Huber advanced to the last four of the Tier I hardcourt tournament in Moscow at the expense of the battling unseeded duo of Serbian Anna Ivanovic and Italy's Francesca Schiavonne in a tightly-contested quarter-final tie.
According to reports from the Russian capital, Black and Huber were stretched to three sets before beating Ivanovic and Schiavonne 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 to reach the semis.
In today's semi-finals, Black and Huber, who are gunning for their ninth title on the road this year, will meet Russia's Maria Kirilenko and Italy's Flavia Pennetta.
Kirilenko and Pennetta booked a semi-final date with Black and Huber after dispatching Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Galina Voskoboeva 6-7 (1), 6-1, 10-5 in the other quarter-final tie on Wednesday.
Another top Zimbabwean player Kevin Ullyett and his veteran Swedish partner Jonas Bjorkman are through to the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open in Sweden.
Playing in his 1 000th doubles match, Bjorkman and partner Ullyett, who are the top seeds at the 713 000-euro indoor hardcourt tournament, advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Americans Scott Lipsky and David Martin on Wednesday night.
Bjorkman is just two wins shy of his 700th doubles match win and could reach that mark with his 53rd title in Sunday's final.
Both he and Ullyett are chasing their third doubles title at Stockholm; Bjorkman triumphed previously in 2003 (with Australian Todd Woodbridge) and '07 (with Max Mirnyi of Belarus), and Ullyett lifted the trophy in 1999 (with Piet Norval of South Africa) and 2002 (with now retired fellow Zimbabwean Wayne Black).
The 36-year-olds improved to a 19-13 ATP-level record for the season, highlighted by a runner-up finish at Wimbledon (losing to Canada's Daniel Nestor and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic) and the Challenger-level title at East London (defeating Swede Thomas Johansson and Stefan Koubek of Austria).
They next face third seeds Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie who advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Lucas Arnold Ker and Bruno Soares.
The South Africans, currently the number eight team in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race, are playing together for the first time since Wimbledon with Moodie sidelined with a knee injury for three months.
Meanwhile, Bjorkman played the final singles match of his career on Tuesday at the Stockholm Open, as he fell to Argentine lucky loser Juan Monaco 6-2, 6-4 in the first round.
"It was a very emotional match," said Bjorkman, who made his Stockholm debut as a 20-year-old in 1992. "I felt I could have played a lot better than I did because I was playing well during practice during the last weeks.
"From this match what I will remember the most is the standing ovation from the crowd after the match was over. It was an amazing feeling."
The Vaxjo-native was making his 16th appearance in Stockholm. He won his home country title in 1997 -- a moment he cited as one of his greatest memories.
Bjorkman finished his singles career with a 414-362 record, recording his last match win in July when he defeated Frenchman Arnaud Clement to reach the second round at ATP Masters Series in Canada.
He attained a career high ranking of No. 4 on November 3, 1997, after winning three of his six ATP singles that season.
Last season, he made a memorable run to the Wimbledon semi-finals before falling to eventual champion Roger Federer of Switzerland.
He announced his retirement plans this past June at the All England Club.
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