Sania - Liezel shock second seeds

Second seed Marion Bartoli of France and fourth seed Nicole Pratt of Australia stormed into the semi-finals in the $140,000 WTA Hyderabad Open tennis tournament on Thursday.

In the doubles, Sania Mirza and Liezel Huber upset second seeds Wynn Prakusya and Angelique Widjaja 6-0, 6-4 to enter the semi-finals at the LB tennis complex.

Bartoli outplayed Bulgarian Mervana Jugic Salkic 7-5, 6-3 while Nicole Pratt defeated a fighting Croatian Jelena Kostanic 6-4, 7-5 in the quarter-finals.

Third seed and defending champion Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand defeated China's Jio Ziheng 6-3, 6-1 without much ado.

Pairing with the world number 11, Sania enthralled the home crowd with a sterling performance as the duo outsmarted the Indonesian pair comprehensively to win the first set 6-0.

Sania made a few mistakes in the second set and did not return well but the senior partner held the fort and warded off a late challenge by the Indonesian pair, who managed to take four games mostly due to some negative points gifted away to them.

In singles, Tanasugarn will now play, Maria Kirlenko of Russia, who defeated Indonesian Angalique Widjaja 6-1, 6-2.

Pratt used her experience to humble the young and roaring Jelena Kostnic in clinical fashion.

After breaking the Croat in the third game, Pratt swung the advantage ahead. She allowed Kostanic to pull up to 3-3 but stepped on the accelerator, clinching the first set with a deft backhand.

The second set looked easy for the 31-year-old Australian as she led 3-1, but a series of double faults cost her dearly and the Croat levelled at 5-5.

Amidst some anxious moments, Pratt held her nerve to come through an advantageous situation to storm into the semi-finals.

In the other doubles match, Yulia Bezgelzimer and Poutchek defeated Maria Kirilenko and Evgoria Kulikovckaya 6-4, 6-4.

Results:

Singles (quarter-finals): Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) bt Jio Sheng (Chi) 6-3, 6-1; Nicole Pratt (Aus) bt Jelena Kostanic (Cro) 6-4, 7-5; Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Angolique Widjaja (Ina) 6-1, 6-2; Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Mervana Jugic Salkic (Bug) 7-5, 6-3.