A confident Ana Ivanovic scored an upset victory over third seeded Vera Zvonareva on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the J&S Cup.
Unseeded Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne also struggled in heavy conditions following early morning rain, but overcame Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela 6-3, 7-5.
Ivanovic, who has leapt from 705 in the rankings at the beginning of the 2004 season to 37, took advantage of an opponent who has now lost in the opening round in four of her eight tournaments this year.
PHOTO: EPA
Following her first career title in Australia in January and recent upset of US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in Miami, the Serb played far more consistently than Zvonareva.
"I found it OK, I adapted pretty well," said Ivanovic of the chill and heavy court. "I just tried to play my game, to attack her and get a little bit into court and get her on the move, and I think I did that pretty well."
Henin-Hardenne acknowledged a loss of concentration as she battled to avoid being taken to a third set by the resourceful Vento-Kabchi. The Venezuelan struck the ball firmly, and found some sharp angles to force her opponent wide.
PHOTO: EPA
Six of the first seven games of the second set went against serve before Henin-Hardenne broke for 6-5 by forcing a backhand error. But she still needed to defend three break points before closing out the match with a service winner.
"I lost my concentration for sure in the second set, but I just kept a good attitude," Henin-Hardenne said. "I kept fighting and finally I came through with very good serves at the end of the match."
"But it was very tough conditions. When I woke up this morning I knew it was going to be hard, because it was very difficult to hit the ball hard and be aggressive. It was very slow and was raining just a little bit, and it's not easy to play in these conditions. I'm happy I won in two sets."
Henin-Hardenne will next play fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder after the Swiss resisted a second-set fightback from Ukrainian qualifier Julia Vakulenko.
Rain drove the players from the court at 5-2 in the first set. When they returned to an almost empty stadium, Vakulenko lost the set, but took a 2-0 lead in the second before Schnyder rallied to win 6-2, 6-4.
Ivanovic will face sixth-seeded Nathalie Dechy of France, who ousted Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-4, 7-6(4).
Defending champion Nikolay Davydenko was knocked out of the tournament, and followed by No. 3-seeded Mario Ancic, No. 6 Igor Andreev and No. 7 Paradorn Srichaphan.
However, top-seeded David Nalbandian advanced to the quarterfinals.
Second-seeded Davydenko of Russia was upset by Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, and Croatia's Ancic was surprised by Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, the 2003 finalist, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the second round.
Wayne Arthurs of Australia ousted Andreev of Russia 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), and Juan Monaco of Argentina overcame Paradorn of Thailand 7-6 (12), 2-6, 6-3.
Monaco's victory lined him up against Nalbandian, who cruised past Australian qualifier Peter Luczak 6-2, 6-2.
Fourth-seeded Tommy Haas defeated Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea 6-3, 6-4, and the lone German to make it past the first round will play Arthurs in the quarterfinals.
"I had to use my best shots," Haas said after beating Lee. "I am glad I managed it."
A finalist at Munich in 2000, Haas was feeling the pressure to become the first German champion since Michael Stich 11 years ago.
"It's a special tournament for me because my family and many friends live here," said Haas, who resides in Florida.
Qualifier Michal Mertinak of Slovakia defeated Ricardo Mello of Brazil 6-3, 6-0 to set up a quarterfinal against Nieminen, while Sluiter will face fifth-seeded Andrei Pavel of Romania, who beat Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands 6-1, 1-6, 6-1.
Top-seeded Carlos Moya beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4 to move into the quarterfinals.
In a tense match lasting almost three hours between the two former French Open champions, Moya clinched the first set when his return shot struck the top of the net and bounced out of Ferrero's reach.
Ferrero broke Moya's serve twice in the second set and took a 4-2 lead before Moya broke back and pulled level at 4-4.
Ferrero went on to save three match points and, despite unforced errors, win the tie-break.
The final set was level until Moya broke Ferrero's serve in the ninth game and then served for the match.
"I was expecting a match like this," Moya said.
"Our encounters are always really tough."
In another all-Spanish encounter, fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo struggled to get the upper hand over unseeded Santiago Ventura, before winning 7-5. 6-0.
Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu also advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Tomas Cakl.
Davide Sanguinetti, Italy rallied form a set down to defeat Spain's Albert Costa 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
In the women's tournament, second-seeded Dinara Safina took less than an hour to beat Ukraine's Katerina Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2.
Michaella Krajicek was one set ahead and 5-3 up in the second set before Lucie Safarova began her fightback to win 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5.
Mariana Diaz-Oliva of Argentina ousted Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-2, 6-3, and American Jill Craybas defeated Slovakia's Ludmila Cervanova 6-4, 6-1.
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