04.08 Tennis: Russians Fall in Washington Semifinals
MOSCOW, August 4 (R-Sport) The Russian challenge at the Washington mens and womens tennis tournaments has ended after Ekaterina Makarova and Dmitry Tursunov both lost in the semifinals.
Makarova, seeded third in the womens draw, was crushed 6-2, 6-0 by seventh-seeded Czech Magdalena Rybarikova on Saturday night.
The other finalist will be Germans Andrea Petkovic, who was unseeded for the tournament as she tries to recover her ranking following injury trouble. Petkovic defeated French fourth seed Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-3 in a match that ended after 2 a.m. local time.
Top seed Juan Martin del Potro is the favorite for the mens final as he takes on John Isner, the highest-ranked American in the draw.
Del Potro downed German veteran Tommy Haas 7-6(4), 6-3 in their semifinal, while Isner came back from a set down to end a strong run from Russias unseeded Tursunov 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4.
The Citi Open, as the Washington tournaments are known for sponsorship reasons, is played on hard courts. It is an ATP 500 event for the men and a WTA international competition for the women.
