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Safina continues upset run, beats Williams


Published: May 9, 2008 at 4:12 PM
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BERLIN, May 9 (UPI) -- Dinara Safina pulled off her second major upset in two days with a victory Friday over Serena Williams at the $1.34 million German Open.

Safina, seeded 13th this week, earned a quarterfinals shot at Williams with a win over world No. 1 Justine Henin. Williams had a 21-1 record this year and hadn't lost since January. Friday started as through the string would continue, with the fifth-seeded Williams winning the first set 6-2.

But Safina roared back for a 6-1 second set win and took a third-set tiebreak 7-5.

Her next opponent will be Victoria Azarenka, who upset 15th-seeded Alona Bondarenko 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 to make Saturday's semifinals.

The other semifinal hasn't been decided because Friday's match between second-seeded Ana Ivanovic and No. 10-seeded Agnes Szavay was suspended because of darkness. Ivanovic, the tournament's defending champion, dropped the first set but won the second, leaving the match at 3-6, 6-4 with the third set coming Saturday.

The winner of that match draws seventh-seeded Elena Dementieva in the semifinals. Dementieva was a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 winner over fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic.



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U.S. OPEN TENNIS
Dinara Safina, shown in a 2007 file photo, upset fifth-seeded Serena Williams in a match Friday at the German Open. On Thursday she beat world No. 1 Justin Henin.
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