DOHA: Alicia Molik of Australia survived a tough
test yesterday to emerge victorious in a match that
was keenly contested till the very end. 的 was
somehow tentative and unsure in my movements today. My
feet were not moving. I was not finishing off points,
which is not my style,・Molik said at the post-match
press conference after her 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
win over Tathiana Garbin of Italy. <br><br>的 was
also negative for most part of the game today.
However, at the end of the day, I am the winner and I am
happy to be in the semis. Hopefully, I will make it to
the final,・added Molik, who is playing in Doha for
the second time. She had made the final draw as a
lucky loser last year before going down to Tatiana
Poutchek of Belarus in the first round. <br><br>的 did not
play as well as I would have liked to but I am glad
that I won today,・Molik said. <br><br>The
quarter-final match, lasting 2hr 19 min, started off tamely
with both players content to play percentage tennis
and neither going for big shots. Games went with
serve till the eighth game before Molik dropped serve
in the ninth. However, the tall Australian broke
right back in the next game and both players then held
to take the set into tie-break. <br><br>Garbin won
the first three points and the cushion was enough for
her to claim the tie-break 7-3 and win the set in 55
minutes. <br><br>In the second set, a sole service break
separated the two players, with Garbin failing to hold in
the seventh game and Molik winning 6-4 in 29 minutes.
<br><br>There was nothing to separate the two players at this
point as Molik failed to continue the blistering form
that she had displayed in the early two rounds and
Garbin played aggressive tennis, even if that meant
making a few unforced errors. <br><br>Molik had upset
third seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain in the
opening round on Tuesday before dismissing Bahia
Mouhtassine of Morocco in the second. <br><br>In the third
set, the 83rd ranked Italian dropped serve in the
third game and Molik looked set to win, serving for the
match at 5-4. In a superb game, Garbin claimed the
first three points to put Molik under pressure. The
Australian tried to hit her way out of trouble, wasted two
match points and finally dropped serve in an eventful
game. <br><br>The next two games went to serve, pushing
the set into tie-break. This time, however, the
Australian痴 serve held her in good stead and she opened up a
6-2 lead before Garbin saved a match point. That was
the last point she won as the 54th ranked Molik
claimed the set and match in style with a delicate drop
shot that a desperate Garbin had no chance of
reaching. <br><br>The Italian said after the match that she
had not been in good form coming into the tournament
and she was still in need of practice. 的t was a
close match. Molik served extremely well today and that
put a lot of pressure on me,・she said. <br><br>The
Italian, who left yesterday for Dubai to play in the
qualifiers for the Dubai Open, said that she had started
tiring towards the end. 的 was running a lot and in the
end, I was very exhausted. It was tough for me
today.・ <br><br>Molik, who will take on Seles today, said
that her serve had kept her in the match. 溺y serve is
the most solid part of my game. It saved me
today,・said the Australian, who has a fastest serve of 183
km/hr to her credit.