ESPN Tennis

BALI, Indonesia -- U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova moved into the semifinals of the Wismilak International with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Angelique Widjaja on Friday.

Kuznetsova, of Russia, was in real difficulty in the first set against a fearless Indonesian opponent who returned with pace and accuracy during rallies.

Widjaja, ranked 144 in the world, twice recovered breaks of serve before holding two points to lead the opening set at 5-3.

But second-seeded Kuznetsova broke back to lead 6-5 by enticing the former Wimbledon and French Open junior champion into a backhand error before closing out the set on her fourth set point.

Kuznetsova played more composed tennis in the second set, breaking serve in a long first game and all but assuring herself of victory with a further break for 4-1.

Widjaja continued to challenge, holding a break point in the fifth game before dropping her serve a final time.

"I was tired in the first set and couldn't find my game," said Kuznetsova, who flew for 24 hours from New York after winning the U.S. Open on Saturday and contesting the doubles final on Sunday.

"I kept missing my balls and was upset that I was missing. But after the first set I started to gain confidence and put more balls in the court. I was able to plan better."

Kuznetsova will face fourth seed Nadia Petrova in the semifinals after her fellow Russian beat Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 7-5.

Petrova raced through the first set of her quarterfinal but a succession of unforced errors allowed Garbin to completely turn the match around in the second set.

The Italian led 5-1 and held two set points at 5-3 before Petrova steadied once more and won the final six games.

"I had such an easy first set, and I just continued like that in the second," Petrova said. "But she really picked up her game and it set me back a bit before I could pull ahead again."

The tournament was guaranteed an unseeded player in Sunday's final after Italy's Maria Elena Camerin upset seventh-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

In a two-hour 26-minute battle in the other quarterfinal, Germany's Marlene Weingartner beat Yoon Jeong Cho of South Korea 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.