Top seeds advance to Big Island semifinals

Advertiser Staff and News Services

WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i — Belgium's Justine Henin moved a step closer to winning her fourth Sanex WTA Tour title of the year, beating Jill Craybas, 6-0, 6-4, yesterday to advance to the semifinals of the Big Island Championships.

Following the first quarterfinal, a memorial service was held on stadium court to honor the victims of Tuesday's terrorist attacks. Wayne Newton sang "America the Beautiful," spiritual leader Haku led remembrance chants and about 50 leis were placed across the net. During a night ceremony, the leis were thrown in the ocean.

Henin, a Wimbledon finalist this year and the top seed in the $140,000 event, will face fourth-seeded Lisa Raymond, who beat eighth-seeded Lilia Osterloh, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, in one of today's semifinals.

Raymond, ranked 32nd, is coming off doubles championships at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. Osterloh, ranked 63rd, was the 1997 NCAA singles champion as a Stanford freshman.

Second-seeded Sandrine Testud of France will play Marissa Irvin in the other semifinal. Testud beat Russia's Alina Jidkova, 6-2, 6-4, and Irvin defeated seventh-seeded Meilen Tu, 6-1, 5-7 (5-7), 6-0.

Testud is trying to win her third tour title. She is ranked 17th in the world. Irvin, unseeded and ranked 93rd, has not won since turning pro last year. The Californian was a finalist in the 1999 and 2000 NCAA Championship.