Petkovic beats Groenefeld 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1 to reach Gastein Ladies semifinals

Petkovic downs Groenefeld in Gastein quarterfinals

BAD GASTEIN, Austria — Andrea Petkovic has rallied to beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1 and reach her first career semifinal at the Nuernberger Gastein Ladies.

The seventh-seeded Groenefeld hit 11 double faults on Friday. She won only six points on serve in the decider.

The 98th-ranked Petkovic will play Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who beat 2007 finalist Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-2, 6-3.

Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania defeated No. 6 Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 to reach her first semifinal in two years.

Olaru will next play either top-seeded Alize Cornet or Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.