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MELBOURNE, Australia -- Vera Zvonareva ran off 11 straight games in a 6-3, 6-0 win over Marion Bartoli at the Australian Open on Tuesday to reach the semifinals for the first time in 25 majors.
The 24-year-old Russian's best performance in six previous trips to Melbourne was the fourth round -- she'd gone out in the first round at the Australian Open three times, including last year. And she made the quarter-finals at the 2003 French Open.
Seventh-seeded Zvonareva rallied from an opening service break to dominate 2007 Wimbledon finalist Bartoli in the remainder of their quarter-final.
"I'm very excited about it," said Zvonareva, who cut her unforced errors from 15 in the first set to two in the second. "I think it was a great day for me."
She's had four 6-0 sets in 10 sets in her five straight-sets wins.
"I'm not really thinking about the scores or sets or any statistics," she said. "I'm just trying to concentrate on every match and trying my best. And I think I've been doing pretty good so far."
Bartoli of France, seeded 16th, had ousted top-ranked Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round.
"I think she played just unbelievably well," Bartoli said of the last 11 games. "She barely missed one ball after that. I was hitting as hard as I could. She was always coming back with some better shots."
In the following match on Rod Laver Arena, defending champion Novak Djokovic was up against No. 7 Andy Roddick in the first of the men's quarter-finals.
Roger Federer, seeking a record-equalling 14th Grand Slam singles title, was against No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro in a night match.
Andy Murray may have to wait awhile before he's picked again to win a Grand Slam tournament.
Touted by British bookmakers as a favourite at the Australian Open, Murray lost to No. 14 Fernando Verdasco of Spain in five sets Monday in the fourth round.
He twice blew a one-set lead and missed chances to break serve in the pivotal sixth game of the deciding set. He then dropped serve in the subsequent game and was beaten 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Nadal had a far easier time, downing 2007 runner-up Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. He has yet to drop a set ahead of his quarter-final against sixth-seeded Gilles Simon.
Verdasco will meet fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the runner-up here last year who defeated No. 9 James Blake 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Of the top eight seeded players, Murray will be the only one missing from the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park.
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