Sanya, China, October 30, 2009 - Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti of Italy posted a pair of wins over teams from Russia and the United States here Friday to become the first women's team from their country to advance to a SWATCH FIVB World Tour "final four" since 2001.

With six-straight wins in the US$380,000 Sanya Open presented by Olympic Bay, Cicolari and Menegatti join top-seeded and reigning SWATCH FIVB World Championships Jen Kessy and April Ross as the first two women's Beach Volleyball teams to reach the semi-finals in the second annual event on the courts in front of the Hai Po Resort on Sanya Bay.

Both the Americans and the Italians will have Saturday off as six other women's teams will compete in the final two Sanya Open elimination rounds to determine the remaining two "final four" spots in the next to last event on the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar with the season finale being staged next week on Karon Beach in Phuket, Thailand.

The 15th-seeded Cicolari and Menegatti opened play Friday morning by posting a 21-14 and 21-12 win in 34 minutes over 26th-seeded Ekaterina Khomyakova and Anastasia Vasina of Russia before becoming the third Italian women's team in the 18-year history of the women's SWATCH FIVB World Tour to advance to a semi-final with a 21-13 and 21-16 win in 41 minutes over third-seeded Angie Akers and Tyra Turner of the United States.

The win over Akers and Turner was the second over a top-three seed this week as Cicolari and Menegatti scored a 22-20 and 21-18 win late Thursday afternoon over second-seeded Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany, the 2009 European Tour champions. "Are we surprising the other teams, I don't know," Cicolari added. "We are just trying to improve with every match. And getting to play at least eight matches this week against some of the top teams in the world is great."

Kessy and Ross opened play Friday with a 21-6 and 21-15 win in 37 minutes over 25th-seeded qualifiers Danielle Remmers and Sophie van Gestel of The Netherlands before advancing to their second-straight Sanya Open semi-final with a 21-19 and 24-22 win in 47 minutes over fifth-seeded Vassiliki Arvaniti and Maria Tsiartsiani of Greece. It was Kessy and Ross' sixth-straight win over the Greeks this season as the two teams played for a gold medal in France in July.

Saturday's elimination schedule will feature a second opportunity for Arvaniti/Tsiartsiani and Akers Turner to qualify for the semi-finals in the 12th and final double gender event on the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar. Goller and Ludwig will play Remmers and van Gestel in an opening match with the winner playing Akers and Turner for a semi-final spot opposite of Kessy and Ross, the defending Sanya Open champions.

In the second opening elimination match Saturday, 26th-seeded Ekaterina Khomyakova/Anastasia Vasina or challenge 11th-seeded Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland with the victor meeting Arvaniti and Tsiartsiani for an opportunity to play Cicolari and Menegatti in Sunday's second semi-final match.