Phuket, Thailand, November 7, 2009 -- For the teams of Jen Kessy/April Ross and Angie Akers/Tyra Turner, it was to their advantage to "take care of business" during winner's bracket play as American pairs had to win only one match each here Saturday to advance to the finals of the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT.

The top two-seeded teams from the United States scored semi-final victories on Karon Beach Saturday afternoon over teams that had to each win a pair of elimination matches to advance to the "final four" rounds of the 16th and final women's event on the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

The elimination efforts for 17th-seeded Lauren Fendrick/Ashley Ivy of the United States and 22nd-seeded Maria Bratkova/Evgenia Ukolova of Russia did produce a "positive" as both pairs advanced to their first-ever SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-final as all four players were guaranteed their best-ever finish in an "open" international Beach Volleyball event.

For the record, the top-seeded Kessy and Ross advanced to their 12th SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal match in 32 international starts together with a 21-18 and 21-14 semi-final win in 40 minutes over Fendrick and Ivy. It was Kessy and Ross' fifth-straight win over their American rivals, including three wins on the SWATCH tour.

With Saturday's win, Kessy and Ross will be vying for their second-straight Phuket Thailand Open title after defeating Nicole Branagh and Turner for the 2008 gold medal 18-21, 21-14 and 15-12 in the 63-minute match.

The second-seeded Akers and Turner scored a 22-20, 17-21 and 21-19 win in 63 minutes over Bratkova and Ukolova in the first SWATCH meeting between the two teams.

Fendrick and Ivy opened played Saturday with a 21-19 and 21-16 elimination win in 41 minutes over 19th-seeded Chen Xue and Linjun Ji of China before advancing to the semi-finals with a 21-19, 18-21 and 15-11 victory in 61 minutes over 30th-seeded qualifiers Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez Steiner of Spain. Despite the setback, Elsa and Liliana posted the best-ever finish by a Spanish women's team on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

Bratkova and Ukolova began play Saturday with a 21-11, 18-21 and 15-7 win in 50 minutes over sixth-seeded Vassiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani of Greece before claiming a "final four" spot with a 21-16 and 21`-17 win in 51 minutes over fourth-seeded Sanne Keizer and Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands.