 Groenefeld's form has seen her move up the world rankings |
Qualifier Anna-Lena Groenefeld overcame second seed Nadia Petrova 2-6 6-3 6-2 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Luxembourg Open. Groenefeld, who has moved from 75th to 23rd in the world rankings this year, battled well after a slow start.
Russian seventh seed Dinara Safina will meet Groenefeld in the semis after she beat Italy's Roberta Vinci 5-7 6-3 6-4.
The other semi-final will feature Belgian top seed Kim Clijsters against fourth seed Nathalie Dechy of France.
Newly-crowned US Open champion Clijsters beat sixth seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4 7-5 to advance to the final four, while Dechy saw off fifth-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 6-4 to go through.
Earlier, Safina let a 5-2 first-set lead slip but recovered her composure to take the next two sets with her big serves.
Vinci blamed the effects of her lengthy three-set win over Switzerland's Patty Schnyder in the previous round for her defeat.
"I was tired and she was not," said Vinci.
"But it has still been a good tournament for me."
MMIX
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