Benesova, Suarez Navarro Continue Collision Course

Two of the four seeds that started at the Forest Hills Tennis Classic were ousted in the first round but there was no such set of upsets in the second wave of matches Thursday, as Iveta Benesova and Carla Suárez Navarro won quarterfinal matches at the Tier IV stop.
 
Fourth seed Suárez Navarro was the first of the two to advance to the semifinals, routing Martina Müller in just under an hour, 62 60. Suárez Navarro, who turns 20 years old in two weeks, is through to her second career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour semifinal, having reached the final four on the red clay courts of Bogotá, Colombia earlier this season, which was a Tier III tournament.
 
Third seed Benesova followed Suárez Navarro into the semifinals with a much tighter win, beating Ekaterina Makarova in three sets, 62 26 64. Benesova is through to her 11th career semifinal on the Tour, having gone 6-4 in her first 10. This is also the third time she has done it at Forest Hills, having been a runner-up in 2004 (to Elena Likhovtseva) and a semifinalist in 2005.
 
Rounding out the final four will be Peng Shuai and Lucie Safarova. Peng, who beat No.1 seed Pauline Parmentier in the first round, saved a set point down 5-4 in the second set to beat Vera Dushevina, 64 75; Safarova had a difficult start before rolling to victory against Jamea Jackson, 36 63 60. Jackson had beaten No.2 seed Marina Erakovic in the first round, completing the Top 2 first round exodus.
 
The first semifinal on Friday pits Suárez Navarro against Peng. The pair has split their first two career meetings, with Suárez Navarro winning in Fed Cup earlier this year but Peng gaining revenge at the Olympics last week. Benesova and Safarova will square off in an all-Czech semifinal, with that head-to-head leading Safarova's way, 2-0 (winning at an ITF Women's Circuit event in 2003 and right here in Forest Hills in 2005).