Radwanska marches into Seoul semis

SEOUL: Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland overpowered Russia’s Vera Dushevina 6-2, 6-0 to secure a semifinal berth at the Korea Open on Friday.
The world number four will meet Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena, who broke local hearts by ending the run of wildcard entry Jang Su-Jeong 6-0, 6-4.
The third quarterfinal also saw the end of an impressive run by veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, who will celebrate her 43rd birthday later this month.
Krumm, who had claimed the scalp of second-seed Maria Kirilenko to reach the quarter-final stage, took that form into her match with Italy’s Francesca Schiavone, winning the first set 6-4.
But the former French Open champion hit back to take the next two sets 6-4, 6-4.
“It was very tough,” Schiavone said. “Date was really strong and she deserved to win the first set, but fortunately I managed to get back in the match.” The Italian will meet third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semis after the Russian comfortably saw off Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-2, 6-2.

Qualifier in final

In Beijing, qualifier Vania King of the United States will play in-form wildcard Zhang Shuai in Saturday’s final of the $500,000 WTA Guangzhou Open in southern China.
King, ranked a lowly 124 in the world, recovered from a slow start to see off home hope Zheng Jie — ranked 58 — 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in just over two-and-a-half hours on Friday.
The American will face China’s 112-ranked Zhang in the showpiece final after Zhang — roared on by the home support — emphatically defeated Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-1, 6-1 in just over an hour.
All the seeds were out the tournament by the semifinal stage.

Simon in last 8

In Metz, France, American Sam Querrey lost to Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6 (1) Friday in the quarterfinals of the Moselle Open.
Simon took control of the tiebreaker by hitting a forehand passer down the line to open up a 3-1 lead.
He then forced an error at the net from Querrey, who swiped his racket in frustration after losing the next point. Simon hit a crisp forehand winner that set up five match points and he converted the first when Querrey’s shot sank into the net.
Simon, who did not face a single break point, will play Nicolas Mahut. He beat Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-4.