CARLSBAD, Calif., 5 August 2007 — Venus Williams failed to capitalize on a match point and lost her quarterfinal of the Acura Classic to Anna Chakvetadze as the No. 3 seed earned a 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 victory Friday.

Chakvetadze squandered the first set after leading 5-2. The Russian double-faulted eight times in the match, three times giving games to Williams in the set. Included in that span was a set point that number 10 seed Williams saved before going on to win the set in a tiebreak.

Chakvetadze trailed 5-3 in the second set before bouncing back. Williams held a match point at 5-4 before Chakvetadze broke serve. Both players held serve to force the tiebreak, won by Chakvetadze as she took advantage of several errors by the American.

The 20-year-old Russian handled Williams easily in the final set to beat the Wimbledon champion.

Chakvetadze will face top-seed Maria Sharapova in the semifinals after her compatriot defeated India’s Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-1.

Patty Schnyder of Switzerland claimed another upset with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 4 seed Nadia Petrova to advance to the other semifinal. No. 9 seed Elena Dementieva defeated fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4 for a semifinal berth against Schnyder. Dementieva, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, lost to Schnyder in straight sets here last year in the semifinals.

Robredo to Face Acasuso in

Polish Open Final

In Sopot, Spanish second seed Tommy Robredo and Argentina’s Jose Acasuso pulled off contrasting straight-sets victories yesterday to reach the final of the Polish Open. Robredo held on to beat Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-6, edging out the unseeded Frenchman 7-4 in the second-set tie-break to seal the win.

Acasuso had a far more comfortable 6-1, 6-2 victory over Albert Montanes of Spain in just 61 minutes.

Roddick Beats Lee, Advances

to Semifinals in Washington

In Washington, Andy Roddick didn’t need much of a scouting report before winning his spot in the semifinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic by beating Hyung-Taik Lee.

It was the second straight week he has defeated the South Korean in a quarterfinal and this 7-6, 6-2 victory took his career record against Lee to 10-1. Roddick, who won here in 2001 and 2005, broke Lee twice in the second set after nearly losing the first. In the tiebreaker, Roddick fell behind 5-4 but some unforced errors by Lee gave the opening set to the American.

Roddick’s semifinal opponent will be No. 7 Ivo Karlovic, who had 29 aces in a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 win over Paul Capdeville. It’s a match Roddick said could take a while, even if the points don’t. The biggest surprise in the semifinals is John Isner, a 206 centimeter (6 foot 9) American playing just his second ATP Tour event. He had 30 aces to upset second-seeded Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.

Isner’s semifinal opponent will be No. 9 Gael Monfils, who beat third-seeded Marat Safin 6-3, 7-5. It is the second time this year the Frenchman has reached a semifinal, and the first time this year on hardcourts.

Monfils broke Safin in the second set to take a 6-5 lead, and finished off the match with one of his 14 aces.

Dushevina, Radwanska Win Semifinals at Nordic Light Open

In Stockholm, Sweden, Vera Dushevina beat German qualifier Julia Georges 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 yesterday to reach the final of the Nordic Light Open.

The eighth-seeded Russian will next play second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-3. Dushevina and Radwanska will both be looking for their first WTA title in today’s final at the Olympic Stadium.

Earlier, Georges won her quarterfinal when Emilie Loit was forced to retire due to an injury while trailing 2-0 in the opening set. The 35th-ranked Radwanska defeated Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-4, 6-1, and Pironkova beat Stephanie Cohen of France 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 in the other quarterfinals.