WTA Tashkent - Radwanska into semis

Defending champion Alla Kudryavtseva moved into the semifinals of the WTA Tashkent Open on Thursday with a 76(5) 64 win over Sorana Cirstea on Thursday.

"It was a close match and I'm thrilled the way I played in spite of some crucial mistakes," said Kudryavtseva, who has beaten Cirstea three straight times after losing their initial encounter.

Kudryavtseva's semifinal opponent on Friday will be Eva Birnerova, who scored a 64 46 63 triumph over Valeria Savinykh. Birnerova, who turned 27 on Wednesday, is now into her first career final four.

On the top half of the draw, Urszula Radwanska defeated Eleni Daniilidou, 63 46 64, to secure her first career semifinal berth. "I had lost to Eleni after having a match point last time, so I knew the match was going to be tough," said Radwanska, 0-5 in quarterfinals until Thursday. "I had problems because of the windy conditions and good serves and backhand slices from my opponent, but I'm happy to have won and reached my first-ever semifinal on the WTA."

Next up for Radwanska is No.1 seed Ksenia Pervak, who got past of qualifier Victoria Larrière, 61 62, in an hour. "I didn't expect an easy match today. I had played her once in the juniors in a close match. The match was not as easy as the scoreline suggests," said Pervak.