Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Francesca Schiavone at the Dubai Open on Thursday to avenge her epic Australian Open defeat in the longest Grand Slam women’s singles match of the professional era.
The No. 16 seed took just under two hours to get past her third-seeded Italian opponent 1-6, 6-0, 7-5 compared with the 4 hours, 44 minutes Schiavone spent getting past Kuznetsova after an unforgettable battle in Melbourne last month.
The Italian won their Australian Open clash 4-6, 6-1, 16-14, but this time the determined Russian prevailed in their third-round match after another competitive finale, despite Schiavone saving six match points just as she did in Melbourne.
Photo: Reuters
Kuznetsova broke to lead the final set 5-3, but failed to serve out the match. Her opponent then saved two match points before holding for 5-5. The Russian then held for 6-5 and needed a further five match points to secure victory.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki took only 52 minutes to dismiss Japanese qualifier Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-0 and now faces ninth seed Shahar Peer, who won 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 against Yanina Wickmayer.
Their quarter-final clash will, as is the case with all the Israeli’s matches, take place on a heavily secured side court.
Denmark’s Wozniacki lost to Peer on the same court a year ago and has not played on a minor court since.
“Playing on the center court every match and then suddenly you have to play on an outside court,” said Wozniacki, knowing a victory will take her back to No. 1 in the rankings. “On a small court, it’s completely different, so definitely I’ll to have get used to that. She has a big advantage there.”
Second seed Vera Zvonareva lost 6-3, 6-2 to 15th-seeded fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova, while sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia beat 12th seed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
There were also straight-set wins for fourth seed Samantha Stosur, who next meets Jankvoic, and eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who next faces Kuznetsova in the last eight.
Australian Stosur overcame Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-4, while Poland’s Radwanska beat 10th seed Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-2.
Flavia Pennetta claimed a 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 win over seventh-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in a topsy-turvy match.
RMK CHAMPIONSHIPS
AFP, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
Milos Raonic hammered a career-high 38 aces while defeating Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/1) on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.
After dropping a marathon second set tiebreaker, Canada’s Raonic needed a tiebreaker in the third to oust the Czech star and post his sixth consecutive victory.
He will next face qualifier Robert Kendrick of the US for a spot in the semi-finals.
In other second-round matches, top seed Andy Roddick of the US defeated Janko Tipsarevic 6-1, 7-6 (10/8), Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt rallied to beat France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-7 (9/11), 7-5, 6-0, while Sam Querrey of the US beat Brian Dabul of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) and Juan del Potro of Argentina easily defeated Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 6-4, 6-4.
It was a quick turnaround for Raonic, who beat second-seeded Fernando Verdasco on Wednesday.
Raonic squandered four match points in the second-set tiebreaker, but still held on to win in 2 hours, 32 minutes.
After winning the opening set easily against Tipsarevic, Roddick had to survive two set points in the second-set tiebreaker. He clinched the match when Tipsarevic hit a forehand into the net to end a long rally.
On the women’s side of the draw, Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina, Czech Lucie Hradecka, Rebecca Marino of Canada and Magdalena Rybarikova all advanced to the semi-finals with straight-set victories.
Marino, the only seeded player remaining at No. 6, defeated Coco Vandeweghe of the US 6-1, 7-6 (8/6).
OPEN 13
AP, MARSEILLE, FRANCE
Michael Llodra will defend his Open 13 title in the quarter-finals against top-seeded Robin Soderling after they won in straight sets on Thursday.
Soderling had some tricky moments as he labored to a 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5) win against French wild-card Nicolas Mahut.
In good form following his win in Rotterdam last weekend, Soderling struggled to find a rhythm and even had to save two break points in the first set.
Both served seven aces each in the even first set. They then broke each other’s serve once each in the second set.
Soderling moved into a last-eight match against eighth-seeded Llodra, who fired a dozen aces and saved a break point in each set in beating Tobias Kamke of Germany 6-3, 6-4.
By the same score, second-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic dismissed Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France. Berdych will face Marin Cilic of Croatia.
Third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny rallied to beat Gilles Simon 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a match that featured eight breaks of serve and lasted a little under two hours. He next faces another Frenchman, No. 6-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters.
Earlier, Dmitry Tursunov of Russia upset fifth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. Tursunov faces No. 4 Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the quarter-finals.
Cilic advanced to the last eight after beating Philipp Petzschner of Germany 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
COPA CLARO
AP, BUENOS AIRES
Top-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain stayed on course to win his second tournament in two weeks by beating Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-7 (3/7), 6-1, 6-3 to reach the Copa Claro quarter-finals.
Almagro will next face unseeded Argentine Jose Acasuso, who rallied to defeat Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-7 (2/7), 7-5, 6-1 in a 2 hour, 45 minute tussle.
In other second-round matches, third-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina defeated countryman Juan Pablo Brzezicki 6-1, 6-2. He will face Spain’s Tommy Robredo in the quarter-finals.
No. 6 Robredo defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 6-3, 7-5.
In the other quarter-finals, Juan Ignacio Chela plays Albert Montanes and Stanislas Wawrinka is up against Juan Monaco.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
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