Defending champion Tamarine Tanasugarn entered the quarterfinals of the WTA Indian Open tennis tournament by thrashing Israeli teenager Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-2 in the second round Wednesday.
Joining the third-seeded Tamarine in the quarterfinals was second-seeded Marion Bartoli of France, who posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory over lowly ranked Russian Galina Fokina.
Fourth-seeded Australian Nicole Pratt ran into a determined challenge from Adriana Serra Zanetti of Italy before prevailing 7-6 (6), 6-2, while fifth-seeded Jelena Kostanic of Croatia had an easy 6-1, 6-3 win against Russia's Vera Douchevina.
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Unfancied Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia knocked out seventh-seeded Italian Maria Elena Camerin 6-3, 6-4 and Mervana Jugic-Salkic of Bosnia-Herzegovina stunned eighth-seeded Slovak Lubomira Kurhajcova 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3.
Sixth-seeded Jie Zheng of China stopped the trend by defeating Bulgaria's Tatiana Poutchek 6-3, 6-2.
Staying on course for her second WTA Tour title, Tamarine, 26, swept aside the challenge from Peer, the Australian Open junior girls champion who has advanced to the 487th ranking from 875 a year ago.
PHOTO: EPA
The second-seeded Bartoli, at 53 the highest ranked player left in the tournament after the exit of top-seeded Saori Obata in the opening round, made a fine start with her deep, powerful ground-strokes causing problems for Fokina, who is ranked 203rd.
Bartoli, 19, was surprised by a resurgent Fokina who matched her rival point for point in the second set.
"I had problems against left-hander Fokina," said Bartoli, admitting that the score-line did not reflect the intensity of the contest.
Bartoli broke her opponent in the first and third games of the second set but lost her serve in between.
Both held their serves in the next seven games but the winner had to work hard as Fokina produced some fine drop shots and down-the-line winners.
"I had to adjust my pace, and felt really tired by the end," Bartoli said.
Kostanic made the last-eight round for the first time in four tournaments this year by winning a duel of sharp rallies against Douchevina.
Kostanic, 23, rushed through the first set as Douchevina held her service just once, and broke her again in the third game for a 2-1 lead in the second set.
Douchevina returned the break in the next game by forcing her higher ranked rival to commit mistakes.
But Kostanic used her predominant forehand to good effect, reeling off a dozen down-the-line winners to put the issue beyond Douchevina, whose game deteriorated toward the end.
Douchevina began the ninth game with a double fault, netted easy rallies and committed another double fault to bow out in a disappointing manner.
Diamond Games
World No. 2 Kim Clijsters swept into the quarterfinals of the Diamond Games on Wednesday, beating qualifier Arantxa Parra of Spain 6-3, 6-2.
Clijsters' road to a possible final against fellow Belgian and world No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne was made easier when third-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia pulled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury just hours ahead of her first match.
With Dementieva gone, the top player Clijsters can now face in her half of the draw is Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva, ranked 21st in the world.
Joining Clijsters in Friday's quarterfinals were eighth-seeded Silvia Farina Elia of Italy, Czech qualifier Klara Koukalova and Croatian teenager Karolina Sprem.
Farina Elia rallied to beat Belgium's Els Callens 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Koukalova upset Russian Dinara Safina 6-4, 7-6 (2) and Sprem beat Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 6-4, 6-3.
In late first-round action, Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine beat US player Alexandra Stevenson 6-3, 6-1 and Iveta Benesova, another Czech qualifier, defeated Greece's Eleni Daniilidou 7-5, 6-4.
In front of some 3,000 home fans at the Sports Palace, Clijsters immediately took charge of the match, winning the opening three games and riding her dominant serve to an easy first-set win in half an hour.
The second set offered more of the same -- a confident Clijsters against an error-prone Parra -- and the Belgian wrapped up the match in just over an hour.
"There is a great atmosphere here. It makes it all the more enjoyable," said Clijsters of the adoring crowd.
She is seeking her second tournament victory in a row after winning the Gaz de France tournament in Paris last weekend.
Henin-Hardenne will meet Chladkova today, and the world's top two players are expected to meet in another all-Belgian final on Sunday, each seeking her first win in Antwerp.
Henin-Hardenne beat Clijsters for the Australian Open title three weeks ago.
Double defending champion Venus Williams pulled out of the tournament after aggravating a knee injury. A third victory for Williams would have given her the right to keep the tournament's first prize, a US$1.3 million diamond-studded racket.
ABN Amro
Lleyton Hewitt of Australia cruised into the second round of the ABN Amro tournament Wednesday, defeating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-2, 6-1.
"I took a week to rest after the Davis Cup, and I feel fresh," said the sixth-seeded Hewitt, adding he kept Gonzalez "under strong pressure" throughout the match by aiming most of hits shots at the Chilean's weaker backhand.
Top-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland extended his winning streak to 15 matches by beating Arnaud Clement of France 6-4, 6-3.
Second-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, who beat qualifier Dennis Van Scheppingen 6-3 7-6 (5), stormed to a 5-0 first-set lead in just 12 minutes.
Earlier in the day, defending champion Max Mirnyi of Belarus beat Sargis Sargsian of Armenia 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-1, surviving a match point in the second set.
"I didn't change tactics after losing the first set," the big-serving Mirnyi said. "I just kept playing my own game and especially focusing on my first service."
Rainer Schuettler of Germany was the first quarterfinalist, defeating Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4.
Hewitt's second-round opponent will be 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden, who steamrollered Thierry Ascione of France 6-3, 6-1.
Czech qualifier Tomas Cakl needed two tiebreakers and five match points to make a winning debut on the ATP tour, upsetting Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden 7-6 (2), 7-6 (8).
Kroger St. Jude
Sixth-seeded James Blake of the US got past Wesley Moodie of South Africa 7-6 (5), 6-1 Wednesday in the second round of the US$880,000 Kroger St. Jude.
Blake now faces Joachim Johansson of Sweden, who beat him last week in San Jose.
In the women's tournament, defending champion Lisa Raymond of the US defeated qualifier Galina Voskoboeva of Russia 6-2, 6-3; Gisela Dulko of Argentina beat fifth-seeded American Ashley Harkleroad 7-5, 7-6 (3); and third-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia advanced when countrywoman Tatiana Panova quit because she was having trouble breathing.
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