An in-form Nadia Petrova claimed the Berlin crown, coming back from a set behind. Petrova played Henin-Hardenne, another master on clay, in the finals of the German event.

The Belgian took the first set with 4-6 and that’s when Petrova began her fight. She wanted her revenge for the defeat caused by Justine Henin-Hardenne in last year’s German Open Finale. She fought her way back, taking the second and third set with 6-4 and 7-5.

Petrova’s win over Justine Henin-Hardenne is the first in their past five meetings and her 15th successive win on clay.

Petrova is in form this season, and has already won 4 WTA tour titles this year, and many think that she has a serious shot of winning the French Open this year.

“The decisive thing was my fighting spirit,” Petrova said. “I don’t think I made the best start today, but I really put my heart into this match.”

Martina’s quest for a title ended at the hands of top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo during their quarterfinal match at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Hingis lost 6-4, 4-6, 4-6. Hingis still leads in their career head-to-head wins at 7-6.

In the conclusion of the suspended game that left Hingis and Mauresmo locked at one set win all, Hingis could not sustain her early start against Mauresmo, losing in the third set, 4-6. Both players played their best game in the same way they did in the first two sets the other day.

A high percentage of first serve of 85% as compared with Mauresmo’s 67%, and no double faults to Mauresmo’s five double faults did not help Hingis win exact her revenge over Mauresmo.

Hingis made an early start by winning the first three games by playing aggressively and by exerting pressure on Mauresmo, going after every shot by fired by the top-seeded Mauresmo. Then, Mauresmo stepped up her game, winning the next two games. Hingis then raised her game to win the next game at 4-2. Hingis kept her level of game, but Mauresmo prevailed, winning the next four games to seal the match.

China’s Li Na overcame injury and Patty Schnyder to advance to the semi-finals of the Qatar Telecom German Open. The tightly fought quarterfinal match lasted nearly 2¼ hours before Li prevailed 26 76(3) 76(1).

Despite two previous victories over her opponent, breaks late in the second and third sets, and three match points, Schnyder was unable to claim victory, with errors by the left-hander and a dominant performance by Li clinching both tiebreakers.

Li, who is ranked 61 in the world and was a part of the historical all-Chinese final at last week’s Estoril Open, now faces No. 2 seeded Nadia Petrova, with the other semi-final to be played out between 3rd seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne and either No.1 seed Amelie Mauresmo or Martina Hingis whose match was halted due to poor light. Meanwhile Schnyder will have a few days rest before play begins at the Internazionali d’Italia on May 15.

With a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze, the world number one Amélie Mauresmo reached the quarterfinals at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin.

In a match over 1 hour 15 minutes, the top seeded French always had the control and won well deserved. Tomorrow Mauresmo will play her sixth consecutive quarterfinal in Berlin, and this match will surely be a real highlight.

The currently best player in woman’s tennis will face the former number one Martina Hingis from Switzerland. Both players already won the German Open in the past, Hingis in 1999, and Mauresmo in 2004.

Mauresmo and Hingis played against each other 12 times so far; the Swiss leads in the head-to-head 7-5. The most important match between them was the Australian Open final in 1999 when Hingis won her last Grand Slam title so far.

In one match after Hingis’ comeback, in the semifinal in Doha in February, Mauresmo beat the Swiss in straight sets.

After 3 consecutive straight-set losses to Elena Dementieva, Martina Hingis pulled off an incredible 6-3, 6-2 victory over the 5th seeded Russian in the 3rd round of the German Open.

Utilizing the wide variety of shots that saw her ascend to the top of the rankings as a 16-year-old, Hingis, now 25, continued on her comeback trail by avenging her loss to Dementieva in Tokyo earlier this year. After dropping her opening service game, Hingis showed that she was trying a different approach this time by hitting a drop shot winner off her first return of serve. She continued to fluster her opponent by a mix of drop shots, volleys, lobs and solid baseline play to race to a 4-1 lead. Both players produced some high quality tennis. Dementieva hit her share of winners to tighten the set 4-3. She then lost her concentration, which Hingis immediately took advantage of by breaking serve and sealing the first set 6-3.

The 2nd set was a similar story. Hingis continued to play aggressively, running to the net on several occasions to finish a point. She led 3-1, and after Dementieva held serve for 3-2, Hingis stepped it up on the crucial moments to run away with the victory after 1 hour and 12 minutes. Clearly happy with the result, Hingis hit balls to the German crowd after the match and mentioned during her press conference, “This is becoming the week of revenge. Last time, I didn’t have a chance. This is one of best matches I have played.”

The match statistics showed it all. Hingis controlled most of the match with aggressive play, which is uncharacteristic of her. She hit more winners (22 to 16) and more unforced errors (24 to 23), while converting 5 of 9 breakpoint chances. Dementieva, on the other hand, failed to take advantage of her many opportunities, which contributed to what appeared like a lopsided scoreline. The match was actually much closer.

This marks the 3rd time Martina Hingis defeated a top 10 player this season and the second time she avenged a previous loss in Berlin. She next plays the winner between top-seed Amelie Mauresmo, to whom she lost in Doha last March, and Russian Anna Chakvetadze.