Peer moves into Auckland semis

Shahar Peer advanced to the semi-finals of the ASB Classic in Auckland with a 6-0 3-6 6-1 victory over Maria Kirilenko.

The 22-year-old, who has twice before exited this competition in the quarter-finals, looked to be on her way to a comfortable triumph after breezing through the first set without losing a game.

However, Kirilenko came back in the second with an impressive display of desire in a second game which featured a long battle at deuce before the Russian finally capitalised on the break point. She broke Peer again to go 3-1 up and went on to claim the set 6-3.

The match returned to the pattern of the first set in the decider, though, as Peer exploited Kirilenko's lack of consistency with her serve and stormed through to clinch it 6-1.

"In the first set I was playing very good," said Peer. "I didn't start too well but got more impressive.

"In the second set my serve was not very good. I became a little bit too defensive. Maria was playing a little bit getter.

"I had two break points but got too defensive. In the first set I was very aggressive and in the third set I was better than in the second set."

She will face her friend Yanina Wickmayer in tomorrow's semi-final after the third seed easily accounted for Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm 6-2 6-2.

The pair have never completed a competitive match, with Peer forced to retire hurt in the early stages of their only previous meeting in Estoril last May, but Wickmayer is well aware of her opponent's qualities.

"She's playing really well," said the Belgian. "She's playing really aggressively and only making a few mistakes.

"She is winning her matches quite easily and she's really taken off to a good start so it's going to be a really good match tomorrow."

The second semi-final will be an all-Italian affair between top seed Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone, both of whom enjoyed comfortable last-eight wins today.

Pennetta saw off Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-1 6-2 while Schiavone was a 6-2 6-3 victor against Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in the late match.