Top-ranked Justine Henin was stretched to the limit by Slovenian qualifier Katarina Srebotnik 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-3 to reach the Dubai Championships quarter-finals on Wednesday.
In an enthralling match that lasted exactly three hours, Henin beat Dubai-based Srebotnik to remain perfect at the Aviation Club. The four-time defending champion, who had a first-round bye, improved to 17-0 in Dubai. Henin will next face Italy's Francesca Schiavone.
Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova cruised past Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 and will meet unseeded Amelie Mauresmo, the 2002 champion and last year's runner-up.
Kuznetsova upset Mauresmo in the 2006 quarter-finals.
Mauresmo, showing why she's no longer in the top 25, struggled past lucky loser Akiko Morigami of Japan 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
No. 3 Ana Ivanovic, the Australian Open runner-up, showed no sign of the ankle injury that forced her out of last week's Qatar Open when she dominated Czech Nicole Vaidisova 6-4, 6-0 in her Dubai debut. No. 4 Jelena Jankovic, a former finalist, needed all her grit and experience to beat Indian wild card Sania Mirza 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Russians Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Dementieva, seeded No. 6 and 8, also won.
Chakvetadze overcame compatriot Dinara Safina 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3, and Dementieva beat Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1.
Henin, winner of 10 titles last year, saw a silver lining in her hard-fought win over Srebotnik.
"It always seems I get a tough first match in Dubai. But I kind of expected it as Srebotnik is a very good player and she played very well," said Henin, already a winner in Sydney and Antwerp this season.
■ CHELA DROPS OUT
AP, ACAPULCO, MEXICO
Defending champion Juan Ignacio Chela and two-time winner Carlos Moya were eliminated in the second round of the Abierto Mexicano on Wednesday.
Fifth-seeded Chela, who beat Moya in last year's final, lost to 2003 champ Agustin Calleri 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-1.
No. 2-seeded Moya, champion in 2002 and 2004, fell 6-4, 6-2 to Nicolas Massu of Chile.
Also ousted were No. 3 Juan Monaco and No. 4 Guillermo Canas of Argentina.
However, countryman and top seed David Nalbandian stayed on course for a second title in two weeks when the Buenos Aires champion rolled past Santiago Ventura of Spain 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
"You have to play game by game and tomorrow I have a tough one against [Potito] Starace," Nalbandian said.
In women's play, top-seeded Flavia Pennetta downed Germany's Julia Schruff 6-2, 6-3.
Second-seeded Alize Cornet of France beat Mexican wild card Melissa Torres Sandoval 6-2, 6-0 but third-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, runner-up in Vina del Mar to Pennetta just over a week ago, was upset by US veteran Jill Craybas 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (2) in a two-hour, 22-minute match.
No. 7 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and No. 8 Edina Gallovits of Romania won, but No. 5 Sara Errani of Italy and No. 6 Yvonne Meusburger of Austria lost.
In the quarter-finals, it will be Pennetta vs Gallovits, Kanepi vs Sorana Cirstea of Romania, Craybas vs Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic, and Cornet vs Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine.
■ BECKER OUSTS HAAS
AP, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
Defending champion Tommy Haas was ousted by German compatriot Benjamin Becker 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the second round of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships on Wednesday.
Haas was a three-time Memphis champ on an 11-match winning streak in the tournament, but coming back from shoulder surgery in November. His record for the season dropped to 2-3.
He hit 11 aces but gave up eight double faults and lost his serve four times in his first match with Davis Cup teammate Becker, who won despite landing barely half of his first serves.
Top-seeded Andy Roddick beat Luxembourg qualifier Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-6 (4) in a first-round match.
In the women's Cellular South Cup, three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport dispatched Russian Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals on debut.
Third-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel, last year's runner-up, beat Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 to move on and play qualifier Marina Erakovic of New Zealand. The Kiwi reached her second career WTA quarter-final with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of US wild card Amber Liu.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but