06-Jan-2011 Nastia Into Brisbane SFs

Anastasia fired eleven aces in a see-saw 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 win Thursday over Czech Lucie Safarova to reach the semi-finals of the Brisbane International.

Nastia was 6-2, 5-1 up when Safarova stormed back to claim four straight games. At 5-5 in the second set, the Russian broke again, but failed to hold when serving for the match. As a result, the second set went into a tiebreaker, in which Anastasia saved two set points before the Czech took it 7-4 and tied the match at one set apiece.

Safarova then carried the momentum into the decider, breaking Nastia’s serve in the first game and holding for a 2-0 lead. The Russian then reeled off five games in a row to take a 5-2 lead. After an exchange of holds, she closed out the match in two hours and 46 minutes.

Nastia next will play Petra Kvitova. They have played twice before and the series is tied at 1-1.

photo: www.life.com