That settled Group D, and the outcome of Groups A and B is clear. Whoever wins on Friday between Marion Bartoli and Shahar Peer will win Group A, and the winner between Samantha Stosur and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez will top Group B. Group C is more complicated, after Kimiko Date Krumm defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 6-3. That means she is 1-1 after two matches, with Yanina Wickmayer up 1-0 and Medina Garrigues, of course, at 0-1. If Medina Garrigues beats Wickmayer on Friday and all three players in the group have a 1-1 record, then it will go down to sets won and lost.
Rezai had to fight hard for her place in Saturday’s semi-final. After an exchange of breaks two consecutive double-faults by Czink gave her another break for 4-3, and that was enough to decide the first set. But then Czink played more aggressively to build a 5-1 lead in the second, holding a set point but making a forehand error. And then, as quickly as she built her lead, it vanished. Rezai won six straight games and the match. With her win on Wednesday over Sabine Lisicki, she held an unbeatable 2-0 record in her group.
"It was very tough, a very difficult set," said Rezai. "Mentally I was down and it was difficult for me to continue fighting. She was pushing the ball very strong and coming to the net, and she was very aggressive during the middle of the second set. At 5-all I said okay, I have nothing to lose and it’s better to fight. I knew she is not very strong on the very important points and I played on that and on those points I tried to be stronger."
Peer also struggled after building a 6-1, 4-1 lead against Rybarikova. Like Rezai when she was down, Rybarikova decided she had nothing to lose and went for her shots to break twice and lead 5-4. Peer though stopped her run to hold for 5-5, and then edged the tiebreak 7-4.
"At 4-1 she played a little bit better," said Peer. "She started to change her game, she came more to the net and I was a little bit defensive. She had to change something because I was cruising the whole match, but I’m happy I could find a way to win in two sets. This happens in tennis and it’s important to find a way to get out of it. That’s the beauty of this sport. At any moment it can change.
"I think I played very smart today. I did the right things. I was serving well, returning pretty well, I was solid. The moments I didn’t win most of the games was when I was a little bit too defensive, but the rest of the match I was pretty aggressive and using most of the court."
Peer is having a great time in Bali and is even staying on afterwards for a vacation. Where better to unwind after a long season?
"All my family is here so I’m in half a holiday already,," she said. "It’s the end of the year and I’m relaxed just trying to play my best tennis on court, and whenever I’m done with my exercising I go out to the beach. I am more relaxed than at other tournaments. I was in Kuta yesterday. We went especially to see the sunset and it was really beautiful.
"Maybe after the tournament is done I will go and see more things. I enjoy it a lot here. Actually we are planning to do some tours when I’m done at the tournament. We’ll go to Ubud and the volcano and everything. Meanwhile I’m just chilling out and go eat in restaurants. The seafood here is great so we’re just enjoying our time. The people are very kind, very relaxed and calm. So it’s fun."
Back to the tennis, and Agnes Szavay added another 11 double-faults to the 12 she hit against Stosur on Wednesday, losing 4-6 6-4 6-0 to Martinez Sanchez. And the day ended with a surprisingly convincing win by 39-year old Date Krumm. She looked far fitter and moved more swiftly than her opponent, and always held the advantage in the second set after claiming the first.
"I’m very excited because I didn’t know if I could win this match today, but I fought for every point and had very clear tactics," said Date Krumm. "I tried to force her backhand and mix it up, hitting down the middle and then out wide."
And it worked.
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