Puig makes Thai semis as Russians falter
Bangkok (AFP) - Puerto Rico's Monica Puig confidently dispatched Japan's Misaki Doi in the Thailand Open 6-4, 6-2 Friday, booking a place in the semi-finals.
The seventh-seeded right-hander will play Croatia's Ajla Tomljanovic on Saturday while Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova will meet New Zealand's Marina Erakovic.
Earlier in the week, Doi had caused an upset at the Thai seaside resort of Pattaya by knocking out top-seeded Peng Shuai of China in a three-set thriller.
But she proved little threat to 21-year-old Puig, currently ranked 60th in the world and the highest seed left in the competition.
Hantuchova faced even less opposition against China's Duan Yingying, taking the first set 6-3 and then demolishing her opponent 6-0 to take the match.
Two Russians saw their hopes dashed in the quarter-finals.
Wildcard and two-time champion Vera Zvonareva was knocked out following a bitterly fought three-set match against Kiwi Erakovic.
After comfortably taking the first set 6-2, she lost the second and third sets 6-7 (6/8), 5-7 in a match that lasted two and half hours.
Fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina, who had seen off Japan's Kurumi Nara the previous day, lost to Tomljanovic 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
