CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Venus Williams was bounced out of the quarterfinals of the Acura Classic by Anna Chakvetadze as the No. 3 seed earned a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory Friday night.
Chakvetadze, who has won her past three tournamets on the WTA Tour, squandered the first set after leading 5-2. Chakvetadze, who double-faulted eight times in the match, double-faulted three times to give games to Williams in the set. Included in that span was a set point that Williams saved before tying the match at 5.
Chakvetadze fell behind 3-1 and 5-3 in the second set before bouncing back. Williams held a match point at 5-4 before Chakvetadze broke her serve. Both players held serve to force the tiebreak, won by Chakvetadze as she took advantage of several errors by Williams.
The 20-year-old Russian handled Williams in the final set for an impressive win over the reigning Wimbledon champion.
Chakvetadze, who won her 12th straight match, will face top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the semifinals after her countrywoman defeated India's Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-1.
Patty Schnyder of Switzerland claimed her second straight upset with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 4 seed Nadia Petrova to advance to the other semifinal.
"She's a dangerous opponent with her big serve and her powerful groundstroke,'' the 11th-seeded Schnyder said. "For me, it was still a great win. I never expected to win it that easily.''
Petrova, ranked ninth in the world, was one of five Russians in the quarterfinals.
Sharapova had little trouble for the third straight match.
"I'd rather take these matches than be playing 7-6 in the third set out in the heat,'' said Sharapova, who has not won a title since October. No. 9 seed Elena Dementieva of Russia defeated countrywoman Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4 for a semifinal berth against Schnyder. Dementieva, a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, lost to Schnyder in straight sets here last year in the semifinals.
"I've never played against Maria before so I got a little bit nervous in the beginning,'' Dementieva said. "It was a quite difficult match even though the score was easy.'' Schnyder is confident of making her first appearance in a final in more than a year.
"I'm feeling great out on the court,'' she said. "The last three days I know where my shots are going. Everything seems to be working. I just want to keep it up for the weekend.''
Sharapova's victory was similar to her only other match against Mirza a 6-1, 6-1 win at the 2005 U.S. Open.
"I think that from the beginning of the match, I played my game,'' said Sharapova, ranked No. 2 in the world. "I thought I did a really good job of serving well and stepping it up when I had to.''
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Source: ESPN.com
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