Zvonareva and Kanepi in fight for semi-final place at US Open
Published:Seventh seed Vera Zvonareva beat Andrea Petkovic 6-1 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open and set up a clash with Kaia Kanepi.
Zvonareva is one of only two women left in the draw who have yet to drop a set, along with Caroline Wozniacki, and was in great form from the start as she claimed the opener in 24 minutes.
The Russian continued to impress as she surged to a 5-0 lead in the second set and, despite some late spirit from Petkovic, she was able to seal a simple victory.
“I always believe in myself and I always believe if I can produce a good tennis, I can beat anyone,” Zvonereva told the US Open’s official website.
“I know that it’s not easy out there, even though it may look that the match today was easy. But it was not easy out there at all. I think I just was a little bit more experienced player tonight.”
Next up for Zvonareva is Kanepi, who showed great resilience to come from a set down to beat Yanina Wickmayer 0-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-1.
The two have never met before and the seventh seed is understandably 3/10 favourite against Kanepi, 12/5, the current world number 32.
Defeating Jelena Jankovic in the third round will give Kanepi the confidence that she will need to defeat Zvonareva, but with Zvonareva’s impressive performances so far, the 5/6 offered for Zvonareva to win in straight sets looks the best value.
The winner of the tie will most likely face Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-final and this is reflected in their price to win the US Open – Zvonareva is 11/1 to win and Kanepi is 40/1.
Wozniacki is 6/5 favourite to win the US Open. See the full US Open tennis betting market here.
