Austrian phenomenon Tamira Paszek defeated second seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-1, 6-3, and became the first semifinalist at the 2008 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

Sixth-seeded Paszek was happy with her on court performance. "I didn't miss many shots," she says, adding that she felt she had her rhythm.

Other quarterfinal matches are Vera Zvonarevia vs. Marina Erakovic (at the moment I’m writing this they’re playing the third set), Katarina Srebotnik vs. Aravane Rezai, and Lindsay Davenport vs. Sara Errani. (source: TVNZ)

The 2008 ASB Classic is in progress, and we have three excellent things to help us follow this Tier IV tournament in Auckland, New Zealand – those are the ability to watch the tournament live on the internet (for free!), great reports of R.C. French who goes to the tournament every day, and daily ASB Classic’s podcasts. Read more »

Austrian Tamira Paszek seems to be taking the ASB Classic seriously as she has already arrived in Auckland to start practicing for the New Year's Eve event.

In the past, the earliest that the players have arrived in New Zealand was two weeks before the ASB Classic, so fifth-seeded Paszek is about to break the record by about a week.

While it’s common for players to come to Australia two or three weeks prior to the first two tournaments, New Zealand had to wait a bit longer for the players to arrive. Richard Palmer, director of the ASB Classic, believes that if Paszek makes a good result at the tournament, other players will follow her example and arrive in New Zealand just as early. (source: Newstalk ZB, photo via Linkmania)