Peer, Paszek to meet in WTA semi-final

Israeli top seed Shahar Peer breezed into a semi-final at a $220,000 WTA hardcourt event against Austrian third seed Tamira Paszek, who barely escaped in a marathon struggle. Peer, who came into the US Open tuneup on a five-match losing streak, saved all six break points she faced to oust Italian eighth seed Alberta Brianti 6-1, 6-2 and reach her first semi-final of the year after playing seven in 2010. Paszek, who came off her first Grand Slam quarter-final run at Wimbledon, scored the final six points of the match to battle past Canada's 117th-ranked Stephanie Dubois 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) after three hours, 42 minutes. "It was a tough battle," Paszek said. "I was just hanging in there, trying to keep fighting. Turns out that's what I needed to win the match. I guess it makes me stronger." Saturday's other semi-final will send 102nd-ranked Ecuadoran-born American Irina Falconi against the winner of a later match between Russian second seed Nadia Petrova and Serbian fifth seed Bojana Jovanovski. Falconi overcame heat of 102 degrees (39 C) to win her WTA quarter-final debut 6-4, 6-3 over France's 81st-ranked Virginie Razzano. Peer, whose most recent of five WTA titles in 2009 at Guangzhou and Tashkent, was one victory shy of cracking the top 10 in April but lost five matches in a row and slid from a career high 11th to 24th in the rankings. Peer, who defeated Brianti in the 2009 Guangzhou final in their only prior match, has changed her fortunes since making Harold Solomon her new coach. "I'm doing well. I played very smart," Peer said. "I'm feeling really good. I'm progressing every match. I will need to play better to win the next match." Paszek, who dropped only five games to Dubois in their only prior meeting in January at Hobart, seeks her third career WTA title. She won crowns in 2006 at Portoroz and last year at Quebec City, both times as a qualifier. Dubois, whose only other WTA quarter-final was in 2005 at Quebec City, saved a match point in the 10th game of the final set, which saw 10 breaks exchanged before the tie-breaker, which ended on Dubois' eighth double fault. "I was far from playing my best," Paszek said. "I will go out tomorrow and be aggressive and finally play my game." Falconi, who will rise to a career-high of at least 80th next week from 102nd in the rankings, will rank fourth among US women. The 21-year-old who "came from nothing" only made her elite-level debut at last year's US Open. "It feels amazing," Falconi said of her first jump into the top 100. "I can't describe it. It feels like a reward for all the hard work we've been putting in. It's great. It's so gratifying. "It's exciting but at the same time it's almost a feeling of belonging. And it's not over yet. This is only the beginning. I'm not coming in here to get a match in or reach a quarter-final. I'm here to win the title."