Cirstea advances to semis in Portugal

ESTORIL, Portugal, May 6 (UPI) -- No. 2-seeded Sorana Cirstea advanced to the semifinals of the $220,000 Estoril Open with a straight-set victory Thursday in Portugal.

Cirstea was able to defeat Arantxa Rus 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals despite getting only 45 percent of her first serves in. Rus, however, only forced Cirstea into three break-point situations and wasn't able to convert any.

Even with the first-serve issues, Cirstea won 67 percent of the points in her eight service games.

She draws Arantxa Parra Santonja in the semifinals. Parra Santonja came through a 2 1/2-hour battle against Jarmila Groth with a 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 7-5 victory. Late service breaks in the second and third sets decided the match.

The other semifinal has seventh-seeded Shuai Peng taking on Anastasija Sevastova.

Peng rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinal win over No. 4-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues that took 3 hours. Peng won despite holding serve only seven times in 15 games.

Sevastova overcame seven double faults in a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 win Thursday over Anastasia Rodionova.