Lindsay Davenport has reached the semi-finals of the ASB Classic on a day of upsets in Auckland.
Top three seeds all fall at quarter-final stage
Lindsay Davenport has reached the semi-finals of the ASB Classic women's tennis tournament after scoring a straight sets 6-3 6-3 victory against Italy's Sara Errani.
She needed just 57 minutes to beat her unseeded opponent, Davenport hitting 40 winners in 18 games and also powering down seven aces.
The result also means that Davenport is 16-1 in singles competition since she returned to the WTA Tour following the birth of her first child - the American also chasing a third title in only her fourth tournament since mounting a comeback.
"I started off a little slow," Davenport said. "She's a tough opponent, coming up and she's going to be good.
"I just haven't played much tennis in the past year and I have a few aches and pains in my body. My arm was a bit sore today but hopefully it will all hang together for another couple of days."
Davenport will now play 17-year-old Austrian Tamira Paszek in the last four, the number six seed advancing with a 6-1 6-3 win over the tournament's second seed, Maria Kirilenko.
"I didn't see much of her game today because it was over pretty quickly but she looks a good player," Davenport said of her next opponent.
"I'm just looking forward to getting out there, playing a good game and seeing what the future of women's tennis is like."
Paszek continued her impressive start to the 2008 season with a convincing victory against Russian Kirilenko.
"I had my rhythm today, played very aggressive, didn't miss too many shots and I was very consistent," the winner said.
Shock
However, there was an even bigger shock in the quarter-finals when New Zealand wild card Marina Erakovic, ranked 153 in the world, beat top-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-3 2-6 7-6 (5).
Zvonareva lost her composure following a series of line calls which went against her, with a crucial moment coming in the third-set tiebreaker when a net cord gave Erakovic a point and a 6-5 lead.
The outsider then clinched the match on the next service point.
"That net cord was freak of nature really," Erakovic said, after reaching her first WTA semi-final in her home town of Auckland. "I really don't know what to say. Call it luck, you've got to have some."
She will now face Aravane Rezai for a place in the final after the unseeded French player caused yet another upset, taking little more than an hour to beat third seed Katarina Srebotnik, 6-1 6-3.
