MONTERREY, México - Daniela Hantuchova and Dominika Cibulkova set up an all-star Slovak semifinal clash at the Monterrey Open on Friday, rallying to win their quarterfinal matches in three sets at the International event.
Cibulkova, seeded No.4, was the first to advance, dropping the first set to Agnes Szavay, 6-3, but grinding out a 36 63 63 victory over the No.5 seed. Hantuchova, the No.2 seed, followed with a 26 62 61 win over Vania King.
Hantuchova and Cibulkova are Slovakia's Top 2 players, ranked No.24 and No.29, respectively. They are two of three Slovaks in the Top 100, with Magdalena Rybarikova sitting at No.54. They have played twice before and Hantuchova has won both meetings, although they were in 2007.
Check out photos from Monterrey right now in the gallery!
The other semifinal will pit No.3 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova against Anastasija Sevastova. Pavlyuchenkova had a quick 62 62 quarterfinal win over Klara Zakopalova; Sevastova was down nine match points - three at 26 25, six at 26 35 - but pulled a Houdini act to beat Alizé Cornet, 26 75 61.
Pavlyuchenkova won her only previous meeting with Sevastova in straight sets.
Sevastova also recorded her first Top 10 win at this event, defeating Jelena Jankovic - ranked No.9 in the world, seeded No.1 here - in the first round.
