Germany’s Andrea Petkovic ended French interest in the WTA Paris Indoor Open on Thursday by beating fifth-seeded Aravane Rezai to set up a quarter-final clash with top seed Elena Dementieva of Russia.
World No. 49 Petkovic, who wants to set up her own political party when she retires from tennis, took the first set 6-3 before Rezai snatched the second set by the same scoreline.
But it was the 22-year-old Bosnian-born German who prevailed by winning the third set 6-3.
PHOTO: AFP
“It was a very emotional match, a very good match ... I’m very happy to win,” she said after her victory.
Petkovic will now face Dementieva in the next round.
“She was a great player in Sydney [where the world No. 7 beat Serena Williams to defend her Sydney International title]. I’m excited to play against her as I haven’t been on the tour for so long,” she said.
Petkovic meanwhile is already making plans for life after tennis.
“I want to engage myself politically,” she said. “I want to start my own political party because I feel the youth in Germany is not really being heard — the two main parties in Germany are focusing on older people.”
Dementieva booked her place in the last eight on Wednesday when she knocked out fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
American Melanie Oudin thrashed experienced Swiss Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-3.
The teenager, who had dropped just three games in her first round annihilation of Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, breezed past her 31-year-old opponent in just over an hour.
Oudin’s return of serve was superb as she stormed through the first set losing just one game. The world No. 53 was almost as impressive taking the second set.
The 18-year-old, who reached the last eight at the US Open, now faces Szavay.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Agnes Szavay brushed aside Croatian challenger Petra Martic in straight sets, winning 6-2, 6-4.
Israel’s Shahar Peer, the sixth seed, piled on the agony for Croatian tennis fans when she took out qualifier Karolina Sprem in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
The Israeli No. 1 and world No. 22 will now play the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova.
Safarova made heavy work of her first set against fourth seed Francesca Schiavone, eventually winning 7-5.
But there was no such repeat in the second set as the 23-year-old routed the Italian 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals.
■SAP OPEN
REUTERS, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
Andy Roddick moved closer to a fourth title at the SAP Open with an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over second-round opponent Leonardo Mayer on Thursday.
The top-seeded American, who last won the San Jose title in 2008 after triumphs in 2004 and 2005, took just 75 minutes to book his place in the next round.
Roddick made 36 of 42 points on his service and never faced a break point against the Argentine.
“Luckily the court here is helping out a little,” Roddick told the Mercury News. “I’m able to mix it up a little bit more. My first serve was 74 [percent] last night and 73 percent tonight. I’ll take that.”
Looking to rebound from his quarter-final defeat by Marin Cilic at the Australian Open where he was bothered by an injured shoulder, Roddick has yet to drop a set in San Jose.
He is an impressive 30-5 all-time in San Jose where he feels right at home.
“I was comfortable out there tonight,” he said. “I was able to kind of move the ball around a little bit more. That just comes with getting matches in.”
In the next round he will take on Tomas Berdych, who he has beaten four times in six matches.
In other action, American Sam Querrey reached his second straight SAP Open quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Taylor Dent.
“It feels good,” Querrey told reporters. “I come to tournaments like this expecting to win. I’m working harder off the court. I’ve paid my dues, I’ve created this.”
Unseeded American Michael Russell reached his first ATP quarter-final with a gritty victory against Xavier Malisse. Russell and Querrey will meet in the quarters
Meanwhile, Ricardas Berankis defeated Bjorn Phau 7-6 6-3 and second-seeded Fernando Verdasco overcame Benjamin Becker 7-5 6-2.
■ROTTERDAM OPEN
AFP, ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Novak Djokovic earned a free trip into the semi-finals of the Rotterdam Open on Thursday, benefitting as his second opponent in three matches this week proved unable to take to the court.
Only 48 hours after Sergiy Stakhovsky was unable to complete his first-round contest with Djokovic, German Florian Meyer withdrew with a hamstring tear a day before his quarter-final match yesterday with the Serb top seed.
“Of course you never want to get a win this way, but I’ll take it the way it is,” said the world No. 2 after moving into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Swiss Marco Chiudinelli.
“Today’s win was a convenient match for me from the start. I felt confident on my service games and took enough of my opportunities on his. I did what I needed to win and that’s what matters,” he said.
The top seed paved the way for a sweep of the leading players into the last eight, with third seed Gael Monfils joining in with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Holland’s Thiemo de Bakker.
Second seed Nikolay Davydenko completed the winning trio with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of crowd-pleaser Marcos Baghdatis in their second-round clash.
Djokovic played world No. 54 Chiudinelli three weeks ago, emerging with an Australian Open second round victory.
“I’ve known him for five or six years,” the Serb said. “He beat me in a Challenger in my hometown of Belgrade [2004]. He’s a tough player but has been bothered by injuries. He seems to be healthy now and doing better.”
Djokovic dominated in 90 minutes, never facing a break point while breaking three times against Roger Federer’s best friend in the game.
Russian sixth seed Mikhail Youzhny, the 2007 winner, also advanced easily over Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan 6-4, 6-4. Julien Benneteau earned another victory for France through his defeat of German Michael Berrer 6-4, 6-4.
For 13th-ranked Monfils his defeat of de Bakker was revenge for his loss to the world No. 82 in his Davis Cup debut five months ago at home.
“First off, I wanted to win the match,” said the 23-year-old Monfils. “What happened in Davis Cup happened. The revenge came as a bonus.”
“I have hopes of winning this tournament, but my next job is to beat Youzhny,” he said. “I had confidence and played much better than the first round here. I played well and it felt good. I just want to keep improving my game. I played solid and was able to run him around a lot, that was my game plan.”
The winner kept de Bakker under constant pressure over 76 minutes forcing the home player to save 10 of 13 break points.
Monfils has played two semi-finals this season, at Brisbane and last week in Johannesbourg. Despite being picked for the French Davis Cup side which face Germany in Tolouse in the March 5-March 7 first round, Monfils won’t be cutting back on a travel schedule which will quickly clock up a reported 75,000km in the early part of this year.
After this week in Rotterdam, he will play from Monday in Acapulco on clay before returning to France for the Davis date indoors.
“Even if it’s far from Europe and on clay, I will have better chances to win in Acapulco,” he said. “All of the top eight are playing that same week in Dubai.”
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