Greece's Daniilidou wins Hobart semi in straight sets
HOBART, Australia -- Greece's Eleni Daniilidou beat sixth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-4, 6-3 in the Hobart International on Thursday to advance to her first WTA Tour final since winning in Seoul in 2006.
Daniilidou was coming off three consecutive losses to Pennetta, including at Wimbledon in 2005.
No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva beat American qualifier Ashley Harkleroad 6-2, 6-1.
Daniilidou, who later also advanced to the doubles final with Germany's Jasmin Woehr, said she was feeling strong heading into the finals.
"It's been a great week and I'm really pleased to be into the final," she said. "The body is perfect and the mind is perfect so I will just go out ... and try to enjoy the moment."
Harkleroad, who played her sixth match in less than a week with qualifying and the main draw, said the quantity of matches had taken its toll.
"I was a little bit tired out there both physically and mentally," she said. "I was also a little bit nervous. That is not the reason I lost -- I lost a bit of composure."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
