Quebec City (Canada), Nov 02: Top seed Mary Pierce cruised into the semi-finals of the 170,000 dollar WTA Bell Challenge with a 6-3 6-3 victory over 107th-ranked Lubomira Kurhajcova of Slovakia.
She is playing at this Tier III indoor event for the first time. Struggling with injuries in recent years, Pierce has not won a title since the 2000 French Open.
This week affords her a good chance to claim her 16th career singles crown, with many of the top players either resting for next week's WTA Tour Championships or playing in Philadelphia.
This is sort of a homecoming for Pierce, who plays under the French flag but was born in nearby Montreal 29 years ago.
Second seed Maria Sharapova also rolled into the semi-finals Friday with a 6-1 6-2 thumping of Russian compatriot Alina Jidkova.



Playing her first season on the WTA tour, the 16-year-old Sharapova won her first career title in Tokyo earlier this month.



She also reached the semi-finals at Birmingham and Luxembourg and the fourth round at Wimbledon.



Laura Granville was Sharapova's semi-final foe yesterday after the fourth-seeded American rallied for a 5-7 6-4 7-5 triumph over China's Jie Zheng.



Venezuela's Milagros Sequera will square off against Pierce after eliminating sixth seed Marion Bartoli of France 1-6 6-3 6-1.


Bureau Report