Rediff

Kolkatta, Sep 23: Sania Mirza set up a dream clash with Martina Hingis after a convincing straight-set victory over Aravane Rezai of France in the US $175,000 Sunfeast Open in Kolkata on Friday.

The fifth seeded Indian ace came up with a much better performance than what she dished out in the earlier round against Germany's Sandra Kloesel to script a 6-4, 7-5 victory in a high-quality quarter-final.

Top seed Hingis beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-5, 6-2 in another quarter-final of the Tier 3 WTA Tour event.

In the other quarter-finals, Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan rallied to beat Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 while Olga Poutchkova (Russia) beat Alberta Brianti (Italy) 7-5 6-3             

Sania thrilled the crowd with her electrifying groundstrokes while her opponent also earned repeated applause for her signature backhand down-the-line returns.

However, Sania came out trumps in the 105-minute clash by time and again successfully attacking the French fourth seed on her forehand and getting the rhythm back on her serve that had faltered on Thursday.

The 19-year-old Hyderabad girl's backhand also seemed to be looking up and she also cut down on her unforced errors on way to reaching her first tour semi-final of the year.

A thousand-odd tennis buffs, who braved inclement weather and gathered at the Netaji Indoor stadium to watch the Indian star in action, were in for a treat as Sania broke the world number 66 in the third game and held serve in the next to open up a 3-1 lead.

Amidst constant chants of 'Sania, Sania', the teenager put pressure on Rezai's serve in the seventh game and got two break-points, but the Iranian-origin girl managed to hold on in the end.

Rezai demolished Sania in the very next game to level the set score 4-4.

However, Sania again snatched the initiative by breaking Rezai in the crucial ninth game, with the latter committing a double fault on break point.

The two players produced some breath-taking tennis in the tenth game, which also saw Sania charging at the net and executing two fine drop shots that helped her pocket the set.

The two players retained serve in the first three games of the second set, before Rezai broke Sania in the fourth.

Sania tried to come back into the set by launching an assault on Rezai's serve in the next game, but the French girl prevented a service break to stretch the lead to 4-1.

Sania had little difficulty in retaining serve in the sixth game, and then demolished Rezai in the seventh on the third break point, as she unleashed a spectacular backhand down the line to close the game.

Soon after Rezai complained of a sore upper arm and although she took the trainer's help, she had problems while serving.

The two players held serve in the next three games, before Sania moved ahead by breaking Rezai in the 11th.

Serving for the match, Sania had smooth sailing in the 12th game, as she won without conceding a single point, with Rezai sending a backhand return out.