Zvonareva battles through sore wrist

A sore left wrist forced Vera Zvonareva out of the Family Circle Cup doubles competition Friday.

But there's no way it will keep the 22-year-old Russian out of the singles semifinals today.

Zvonareva, seeded No. 9 at the Family Circle Cup and ranked No. 20 in the world, advanced to her first Tier I semifinal since 2004 with a 6-1, 7-5, victory over Michaella Krajicek on stadium court on Friday.

That makes today's semifinal match against fourth-seeded Dinara Safina one of the biggest of Zvonareva's career. She's won five times on the WTA Tour, but never an event as important as the $1.34 million Family Circle Cup.

Zvonareva was slated to play a doubles quarterfinal match along with partner Nathalie Dechy on Friday night, but withdrew from doubles with a wrist problem that has plagued her in recent weeks.

"I had this problem for a while," said Zvonareva, whose last singles title came last year in Cincinnati. "And I've just been battling it since the beginning of the week a little bit more, and I really felt it two days ago.

"And today it was just much worse. I

think if I tried to play my doubles, I won't be able to come back on the court (today) for sure."

Zvonareva had ice on her wrist after Thursday's quarterfinal victory over Ana Ivanovic, but the injury hasn't seemed to bother her too much during her march to her first semifinal appearance in six trips to the Family Circle Cup.

She hasn't dropped a set in four matches, and Friday's 7-5 second set was the most she's been pushed this week. "I've been getting tested every day since I got here," she said. "The score doesn't always reflect what is happening on the court. It's always tough. There's no easy matches on the tour anymore."

Zvonareva has been seeking a return to her breakthrough form of 2004, when she was 19 years old and cracked the top 10 with a career-best singles ranking of No. 9 in the world.

That year, she made the semifinals of four Tier I events, went undefeated in Fed Cup, handed Jennifer Capriati her worst loss in five years, won a mixed doubles title at the U.S. Open and won her second singles title at Memphis.

Her 2005 season was marred by injury, but she bounced back to win twice last year before suffering the left wrist injury late in the season.

This year, she's 13-7 in singles matches and lost in the round of 16 to Justine Henin in her last tournament, in Miami last month.

Now, she has a sore wrist and a tough foe between her and the Family Circle Cup finals.

"At the moment, I couldn't tell you (how the wrist will affect her)," she said.

"I'll rest. I'll get the treatment. I'll get everything I could to recover and then we'll see what's going to happen (today)."

Reach Jeff Hartsell at jhartsell@postandcourier.com