Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova led four Russians into the Acura Classic quarterfinals Thursday with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Gisela Dulko.
Sharapova, the sixth seed, needed all of 44 minutes to win her third-round match in the first tournament she's played since surprising Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final earlier this month.
Her countrywomen were nearly as quick. French Open champion Anastasia Myskina defeated Chanda Rubin 6-1, 6-2 in 61 minutes; No. 5 Elena Dementieva got by Russian Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 7-6 (2) in 75 minutes; and No. 12 Vera Zvonareva beat seventh-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-3 in 60 minutes.
PHOTO: REUTERS
No. 4 Lindsay Davenport, winner of titles at Stanford and Carson in the last two weeks, routed Conchita Martinez 6-1, 6-2 in 47 minutes.
Williams, the top seed who hasn't won a title since March, defeated another Russian, Elena Bovina, 6-4, 6-2 in 68 minutes.
Trailing 3-2 in the first set, Bovina had triple break point against Williams, but Williams came up with two winners and Bovina sent a forehand long on a second serve as Williams held. Bovina double-faulted to drop her serve and trail 5-2.
Bovina won the next two games to get to 5-4, but Williams closed out the set with a 110 mph serve that the Russian barely got her racket on. In the second set, Bovina fought off triple break point to hold for a 2-1 lead, but Williams ran off the final five games, including two service breaks, and won on her third match point when Bovina's backhand went wide.
"It boiled down to who could hold serve, but my serve carried me throughout the match," Williams said. "This is the best I've played in the last few weeks. Baby steps, but I'll get there."
Sharapova will play the third-seeded Myskina in Friday's quarterfinals at La Costa Resort and Spa.
"It's going to be very tough for me. Now she's playing much better," Myskina said of Sharapova. "I want to prove that French is not only one tournament I was playing good."
Myskina, the top-ranked player in Russia, is 2-0 against Sharapova this year. She beat her in three sets at the Australian Open and in straight sets at Indian Wells in March -- both on hardcourts.
"I haven't beaten her yet and I like these kind of challenges," Sharapova said. "She's very consistent, she moves very well and she gets everything back. You have to stay patient. Indian Wells was a terrible day for me. I've become such a more experienced player."
Myskina and Sharapova won their first Grand Slam titles this year. But they couldn't be more different. Myskina is in her eighth year on the WTA Tour, and frequently mentions being homesick for Russia.
Sharapova came to the US when she was 7 to pursue her tennis, and is the most Americanized of all the talented Russians who have become a major force in women's tennis.
"I think she's more comfortable here," Myskina said. "Her mentality is more American, but she still speaks good Russian. She's still a nice girl. She handles pressure very good."
But Sharapova sharply rejected a suggestion that she feels American, even though she spends only a few weeks a year in her native country.
"We've had totally different ways of growing up and developing our careers," she said. "Even though I've trained in America, my blood is Russian and no one is going to tell me where I'm from."
Sharapova raced through the first set in 18 minutes against the overmatched Dulko, who was to play Venus Williams in the first round. But Williams withdrew because of a right wrist injury before their match, and Dulko beat Tamarine Tanasugarn and Mary Pierce to reach the third round.
"I just made it quick," Sharapova said. "I played very solid and I was on a roll even though she served very well. I was able to make some returns and put pressure on her."
Davenport trails Martinez 8-7 in their career meetings, and the Spaniard won their previous meeting at last year's French Open when Davenport retired with a left foot injury that later required surgery.
Martinez held serve to open the match, then lost seven straight games to fall behind 6-1, 1-0. At 2-2 in the second, Davenport won the final four games, breaking Martinez twice.
"You always have to be more prepared and ready to go against someone you don't have a great record against," Davenport said. "I thought it was going to be tougher than it was. She gave me a lot more errors than she typically does. She never dictated play."
Davenport has defeated both Serena and Venus Williams in the last two weeks for the first time in four years. She is trying to complete a sweep of the California summer hardcourt tournaments for the first time since 1998, when she went on to win her only US Open title.
"Physically, I feel better now," she said. "The 3-hour match in Stanford [over Venus in the final] was harder to recover from than last week [a straight-set win over Serena in the final]. I'm on a good roll. I know this is the best I've played in a long time."
Top seeds Roger Federer and Andy Roddick each won two matches to advance to the quarterfinals, while Andre Agassi was knocked out in the second round.
Federer, the Wimbledon champion, beat Robin Soderling 7-5, 6-1 in his second-round match then eliminated Max Mirnyi 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4). Mirnyi earlier beat No. 14 Paradorn Srichaphan 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The win extended Federer's unbeaten streak to 20 matches, dating to the French Open where he lost in the third round.
"If someone had told me after the French I wouldn't lose a match until now I would've told them this was almost impossible," Federer said. "I'm happy with the way I'm playing. I'm winning my matches in straight sets, I couldn't ask for more."
The second-seeded Roddick, the defending champion, defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the second round of the rain-delayed tournament then beat No. 16 Juan Ignacio Chela of Chile 6-1, 6-4.
The 10th-seeded Agassi was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Jurgen Melzer, a blow for the eight-time Grand Slam champion's US Open preparations.
Agassi, 34, won this hard-court event three times and isn't sure whether he'll be back for another edition. The tournament won't return to the city until 2006.
"It's a question mark for me, so I certainly understand it being a question mark for others," Agassi said. "I don't know if I'll be back, I never know if I'll be back. If I have that question, I can only imagine someone else having that question."
Melzer, ranked No. 61, dominated Agassi from the start.
"It was probably one of the last chances to play him," Melzer said. "There is nothing above it if you beat Agassi. To win is just big."
Melzer later beat Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals, where he will face unseeded Nicolas Kiefer. Kiefer advanced with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 decision over fourth-seeded Carlos Moya.
Federer's next opponent will be Fabrice Santoro, who upset No. 9 Lleyton Hewitt 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals. Roddick will next face Jan Hernych, a qualifier ranked 109th who beat Gustavo Kuerten 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Kuerten upset No. 5 Tim Henman 7-5, 6-4 in the second round.
Melzer outaced Agassi 10-3 and never allowed the veteran to get into long rallies.
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