Amanmuradova makes Istanbul semifinals

ISTANBUL, Turkey, May 22 (UPI) -- Akgul Amanmuradova fought back from behind Thursday in claiming a quarterfinal victory at the Istanbul Cup tennis tournament.

Amanmuradova trailed 1-5 in the first set and saved a pair of set points to win in a tiebreaker. Then, after dropping the second set, she turned the only service break of the set into a ticket to the semifinals in finishing off a 7-6 (7-0), 1-6, 6-4 victory over third-seeded Nadia Petrova.

Amanmuradova, seeded sixth, draws defending champion and top-seeded Elena Dementieva in Friday's semis. Dementieva breezed past seventh-seeded Jill Craybas 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday. She has never before played Amanmuradova.

The other semifinal has second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska against No. 8-seeded Tsvetana Pironkova. Radwanska has won four of the five previous meetings between the two.

Radwanska advanced with a shaky 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win Thursday over Andreja Klepac while Pironkova earned her first semifinal slot of the year with a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) upset of fourth-seeded Olga Govortsova.