Garcia, Errani storm into Dubai semis

France's Caroline Garcia beat Germany's Andrea Petkovic on Thursday to take on Czech veteran Barbora Strycova in the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The rainy and cold weather which interrupted the tournament briefly on Wednesday turned better Thursday as Garcia, ranked 38th in the world, overcame the tall rival 6-3, 6-5.

The 23rd-ranked German seemed to be somewhat exhausted from previous matches and a bit unfocused. The more mistakes she made, the more she expressed her frustration visibly and audibly through negative monologues.

Garcia, aged 22 and a resident of the French city of Lyon, told Xinhua after the match that while she felt the previous matches in Dubai took a lot of energy, "this match against Petokovic was a little bit lighter and only one and half hours long, but anyway I am still young and I feel fit for the coming match."

The second quarter-final took more than two hours as Italy's Sara Errani turned the table in the second set, winning it 6-1 against Madison Brengle, after she lost the first set 6-4.

As the 25-year-old American failed to retake the initiative on the center court, Errani won the third set 6-4.

"I don't know how I turned the match, the best is not to think to much about the set but more about the next point and I always fight to win the next point, no matter what happened before," said Errani.

In a quarter-final between Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe of the United States and 21st ranked Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, the latter left the court as a winner after tough three sets that lasted just short of two hours, finishing 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.

Svitolina kept the 1.85-meter-tall blonde on the run in the first and third sets. "I tried to play fast and I chased every ball. I really look forward to the semifinal against Sara Errani on Friday," said Svitolina.

Errani also won her doubles with Spain's Suarez Navarro, winning 6-3, 6-4 against Chinese duo Zheng Saisai and Xu Yifan. Endi