“Baku Cup 2014”, 5th Day
By Amina Nazarli
The fifth day of the grandiose "Baku Cup 2014" began on July 24 with several surprises.
So, the match between Romanian Sorana Kirstea and Swiss Stefanie Vogele shocked every one. Though Sorana was the favorite of the match, the player from Switzerland Stefanie, who did not make any serious attacks benefited from the errors of her rival and won the game. With this victory, Stefanie moved on to 1/4 final.
Italian Francesca Schiavone who moved on to 1/4 final with a grandiose victory under her rival Julia Glushko (Israel) showed how much ambitious she was to become a champion.
Another match was held between Kristina Mladenovic from France and Donna Vekic from Croatia. The match ended 2:1 with the victory of French player, who moved on to 1/4 final.
The last finalist of 1/4 final was Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who could defeat her rival from Spain Silvia Soler-Espinosa.
The doubles matches also had interesting results.
The duo of Shayar Peyer (Israel) and Raluka Olaru (Romania) won the French team of Amandine Hesse and Pauline Parmentier and took the chance to reach to the semi-final.
The other favorites of the tournament Georgian Oksana Kalashnikova and Ukrainian Olga Savchuk also reached 1/4 final, winning the duo of Nigina Abrurahimova (Uzbekistan) and Alyona Fomina (Ukraine) with the score 2:0.
The duo of Alexandra Panova (Russia) and Heather Watson (Great Britain) played against the duo of Catherine Bondarenko (Russia) and Nicole Melichar (USA). The couple of Panova and Watson finished the match 2-0 and moved on to the semi-finals.
Defeating the duo of Alexandra Karashvili (Ukraine) and Tereza Martinkova (Czech), Italian Francesca Schiavone and Swiss Stefanie Vogele reached the semi-final.
The final of the tournament will take place in the Central Court on July 27, which can host 3,000 spectators.
The prize fund of the tournament will be $250,000 this year.