Zi Yan - Getty Images

And Then There Were Four

August 17, 2007 - The sun has set on another windy day at the Rogers Cup presented by American Express. Up next: Semifinal Saturday.

The day will start off with a bang, as world No. 1 and top seed Justine Henin is set to take on qualifier Zi Yan of China in the first semifinal.  Playing in her third career semifinal at this event, the 25-year old Belgian has breezed through the draw thus far without dropping a set.  However, she will be in tough against Yan, who has been the talk of the tournament with her stellar play against opponents ranked significantly higher than her.  At No. 169 in the world, Yan is the lowest-ranked semifinalist in Rogers Cup history since the inception of the ranking system for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in 1975.  The match will surely be entertaining as both women look to earn a berth in the finals.

In the other semifinal, second-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic will face No. 12 seed Tatiana Golovin of France.  This tournament marks Jankovic’s best ever result at the Rogers Cup and is her 13th semifinal appearance of the season, a testament to her stellar 2007 campaign.  On the other side of the court, Golovin is also enjoying one of the best years of her career, sitting comfortably in the top 20 of the world rankings and winning her first career title at Amelia Island.  The two women have battled twice, with each winning a tight three-set match over the other, but that was nearly two years ago and they are both far more experienced players now.  This match promises to be exciting as both women look to be at the top of their games here in Toronto.

In the doubles draw, the semifinals will feature some of the best that women’s doubles has to offer as the top four seeded teams have all advanced.  Headlining the day session are Cara Black (Zimbabwe) and Liezel Huber (United States), the top ranked doubles team and No. 1 seeds at the Rogers Cup. They have been dominant on the WTA Tour this year, reaching the semis at all 17 tournaments they’ve entered, and will be looking to advance to their seventh final of 2007.  They will play No. 4 seeds Nathalie Dechy (France) and Tiantian Sun (China). 

In the last semifinal of the day, No. 2 seeds Ai Sugiyama (Japan) and Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) will take on No. 3 seeds Alicia Molik (Australia) and Mara Santangelo (Italy).  The last time these teams met, Molik and Santangelo defeated Sugiyama and Srebotnik in the finals at Roland Garros for their first Grand Slam title.

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