BOGOTA, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Fourth-seeded Colombian Fabiola Zuluaga continued to please the hometown fans at the Copa Colsanitas Friday, advancing to the semifinals at the claycourt event.
Zuluaga needed just 43 minutes to rout Hungary's Katalin Marosi, 6-1, 6-2, and reach her first semifinal since capturing her third career title here last year.
"I did not serve as well as I had liked, but I won," Zuluaga said. "That is what it matters to me at the moment."
The 24-year-old Bogota resident brought a four-match losing streak into this event but has dropped just 10 games in three matches. She is looking to reach her fifth career final.
Zuluaga's semifinal foe Saturday will be top seed Paola Suarez of Argentina, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over No. 6 Conchita Martinez Granados of Spain.
"With Paola, we have played several times. The last time I won here in Bogota (last year), but that time is history," said Zuluaga, who lost another matchup here to Suarez in 1999. "I hope to play more relaxed. She is the one that has the pressure to win. She is seed No. 1, the one that has better ranking, and I will leave everything on the court with no pressure."
Second seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and unseeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues will battle in Saturday's other semifinal.
Srebotnik posted a 6-4, 7-5 victory over No. 5 Flavia Pennetta of Italy. Prior to this week, her best result of the season was a third-round showing at the Australian Open in January.
Medina-Garrigues continued her strong start to the season with a 6-2, 7-6 (12-10) triumph over Catalina Castano of Colombia. The 20-year-old Spaniard reached the quarterfinals at Auckland, the final at Hobart and the fourth round at the Australian Open last month.
