Wozniacki avoids mistakes to reach semis

Caroline Wozniacki is closing in again on the U.S. Open title. The Dane emerged last year, losing to Kim Clijsters in the Open final. She's popped up all over the place in the hard court season this summer, winning the last two events.

Here she is again. Wozniacki beat the scrappy Slovak Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2, 7-5, last night in a quarterfinal match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

The wind conditions were brutal, more suitable for the Americas Cup than the national tennis championship. The 5-3 Cibulkova needed every inch of height on her toss, but so often when she threw up the ball it looked like a Ping-Pong ball in the lottery machine. In the first game she was forced to catch three straight tosses before finally hitting the fourth.

There were napkins, hot dog wrappers, plastic bags and towels flying all over the place. Points were interrupted by airborne debris, the chair umpire forced to call several lets.

"It felt like playing in a hurricane," said Wozniacki, who said the key to playing in the conditions was "I got back as many balls as possible, and run."

She came up against a player with just as much run in her. Cibulkova didn't back down for a second, went for her shots far more than Wozniacki did, and generally forced the action. She timed her ground strokes well, especially off the forehand, where she hit 15 winners.

Wozniacki was content to return, return, return and wait for the error. It worked, even if it was not particularly convincing as a championship strategy.

Wozniacki hasn't dropped a set in the tournament, getting past Maria Sharapova with a strong effort in the previous match.

Wozniacki will play Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals Friday, with Clijsters facing Venus Williams in the other semifinal.

Williams has seven Grand Slam titles, including two U.S. Opens. Clijsters has two Slam titles, both U.S. Opens, and is the defending champion. Wozniacki and Zvonareva are looking for their first Slam title.

Zvonareva, who is enjoying her finest Grand Slam year in a nine-year campaign that began in 2002, defeated Estonian Kaia Kanepi, 6-3, 7-5.

Zvonareva reached the fourth round at Australia, the second round at the French and was beaten in the Wimbledon final by Serena Williams. She never has been past the fourth round at the Open.

A career that began with some flair was frequently interrupted by injuries over the last five years. Now healthy, Zvonareva's championship dreams are renewed though she had never lost faith in her ability.

"I don't question myself," she said. "I always believed in myself. I'm just going out there and trying my best in every match. It's been working pretty good for me so far."

Kanepi committed 60 unforced errors, which is an entirely misleading statistic considering how blustery it was.

"I don't think she was just making errors for no reason," Zvonareva said. "I think I was making it difficult for her. She had to go for more shots. But with the wind going all different directions and blowing, it's not easy to make those shots."