PETE ZIEBRON
Svetlana Kuznetsova continues her magnificant run in Madrid and advances to tomorrow's final. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Neppl
Week after week on the WTA tour, the entire order of play on consecutive days at several tournaments tends to be very appealing. Sometimes a half dozen or more intriguing matches appear out of the gate in the first and second rounds at tan event. Other times, the middle rounds sizzle.
Today in Madrid, somewhat of an oddity showed up on the semifinals schedule, as all 4 players left in the draw had all won at least 2 majors. Only 6 active WTA players have won multiple majors and 4 of those 6 in the Madrid draw won their quarter. (Ironically the 2 players with multiple majors who did not advance to the semis, Victoria Azarenka and Venus Williams played each other in the 1st round, with Azarenka winning the match.) In the 3rd round, Serena Williams defeated Azarenka in 3 tense sets.
World #1 Serena Williams won the top quarter and remained undefeated in 2015 heading into her semifinal against Petra Kvitova. Earlier this year, Kvitova surprised the tennis world by deciding not to play Indian Wells and Miami in March, opting instead to rest. Her decision may be paying dividends as she defeated Serena Williams today 6-2 6-3 to advance to the final and concurrently end Williams' 27 match winning streak.
Maria Sharapova, the #3 seed in Madrid was tested throughout the tournament before ultimately advancing to the semis. Meanwhile fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova racked up several impressive victories on her way to the semis, including wins over Ekaterina Makarova, Garbine Muguruza, Sam Stosur and Lucie Safarova. Today, Kuznetsova rolled past Sharapova 6-2 6-4, setting up tomorrow's showpiece final against Petra Kvitova.
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