Birmingham, England (Sports Network) - Chinese Jie Zheng and Russian
Ekaterina Makarova advanced to the semifinals Saturday in Birmingham before
rain halted play at the $220,000 Aegon Classic, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-
up.
Rain wreaked havoc Friday at Edgbaston Priory Club, forcing all four
quarterfinal matchups into Saturday.
Fourth-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci was trailing Zheng 3-6, 6-5 when their
match was suspended for the day Friday, but the Chinese world No. 32 finished
off Vinci 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 on Saturday.
Makarova encountered 13th-seeded Taiwanese Su-Wei Hsieh and fought back after
dropping the first set to take a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 decision.
Two other quarterfinal matchups began, but rain washed out both, forcing them
to resume on Sunday.
The former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic leads Japan's Misaki Doi 2-0, while
American Mel Oudin holds a 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 edge against compatriot Irina
Falconi.
The Serbian Jankovic is looking to advance to the semifinals, where Zheng
awaits, while the eight-seeded Makarova will face the winner of the all-
American quarterfinal.
The 2012 Aegon Classic winner will collect $37,000.
The Sports Network