PATTAYA, Thailand — Marina Erakovic of New Zealand staved off three match points to beat two-time former champion Vera Zvonareva of Russia 2-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5 in the Thailand Open quarterfinals on Friday.
The unseeded Erakovic was persistent and smart from 6-2, 2-0 down, also limiting her unforced errors. She saved a match point in the second-set tiebreaker at 6-5 by unleashing a deep forehand that forced Zvonareva to make a mistake.
In the final set, Zvonareva led 5-3, forcing Erakovic to save two more match points as she won five consecutive games to beat the Russian, a former world No. 2 who received a wild card entry, a second time.
In the Kiwi’s first semifinal since August, she will face another two-time Pattaya champ, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who beat Duan Ying-ying of China 6-3 6-0.
The only seed left in the draw, No. 7 Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, defeated Misaki Doi of Japan 6-4, 6-2, and faces first career semifinalist Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia, who hit nine aces in beating Evgeniya Rodina of Russia 7-6 (4), 6-2.