Nadia Petrova has reached her first final since 2008 and the 20th of her career after a 2-6 6-2 6-2 victory over Maria Kirilenko in the semis of the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale.
Kirilenko won the first set in 39 minutes, breaking the eighth-seeded Petrova twice and without dropping her own serve. But then Petrova started to play better and Kirilenko’s low back injury that she got “out of nowhere” took the toll. Petrova won all her service games in the remaining two sets and defeated her fellow Russian who refused to retire despite the pain.
The second semifinal will feature No.4 seed Elena Dementieva and No.1 seed Caroline Wozniacki. (photo courtesy of Fiji Water)
Marija, I dont understand the “out of nowhere” injury that you mentioned? Did she say something about it or you think she just used that as an excuse for the loss?
Mike, sorry, I wasn’t clear enough. “Out of nowhere” is what Kirilenko said about her injury in the post-match interview.
“Even if you have pain, you have to try. I decided to continue,” said Kirilenko, who was treated for a low back injury during the match. “I was in pain in the first set, but I won it because she was making a lot of mistakes. She was missing the first ball, the second ball. It was good for me. But then she started to play better. I’m playing well and to get this out of nowhere is always sad.”
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