PARIS, Feb 8: Russian Anna Chakvetadze led the top three seeds into the Paris Open quarter-finals on Thursday.
Chakvetadze, who had a bye in the first round of the indoor event, dismissed local favourite Nathalie Dechy 6-1, 6-3.
The top seed was in a class of her own in the first set and opened up a 3-0 lead in the second.
Dechy, back from Beijing where France were beaten by China in the Fed Cup at the weekend, fought back to level at 3-3 but Chakvetadze was soon back in control.
She broke her opponent again before wrapping up victory when Dechy hit a backhand wide.
The 20-year-old Chakvetadze will next meet former world number one Amelie Mauresmo, who was leading Eleni Daniilidou 3-0 when the Greek player, weakened by a virus, retired.
Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, seeded second, alternated brilliant winners and clumsy errors in a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win over Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik. She will next play Hungarian Agnes Szavay, the seventh seed.
Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli recovered from a sluggish start to beat Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-1.
The third seed, who refused to play in the Fed Cup because her father and coach Walter was not allowed to accompany her, will face compatriot Virginie Razzano in the quarter-finals.
Razzano made the last eight by beating Alize Cornet 6-4, 7-5 in a tight all-French second-round tie.
Kateryna Bondarenko crushed fellow Ukrainian Yuliana Fedak 6-0, 6-3 to set up a meeting with Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva.
Results (x denotes seeding):
Second round: Amelie Mauresmo (FRA x6) bt Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) 3-0 retired; Virginie Razzano (FRA) bt Alize Cornet (FRA) 6-4, 7-5; Marion Bartoli (FRA x3) bt Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 7-5, 6-1; Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) bt Yuliana Fedak (UKR) 6-0, 6-3; Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x2) bt Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; Anna Chakvetadze (RUS x1) bt Nathalie Dechy (FRA) 6-1, 6-3.
DELLACQUA FALLS
PATTAYA (Thailand): Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska advanced on Thursday to the US$170,000 Pattaya Open quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over former champion Anne Kremer.
The 18-year-old Pole, a quarterfinalist in January’s Australian Open who is ranked world No. 21, delivered a mix of drop shots, lobs and spins to beat the tournament’s 2000 winner in one hour and 23 minutes.
In an upset, Slovenian Andreja Klepac, ranked just 145 in the world, played an aggressive baseline game to overwhelm second seed Casey Dellacqua of Australia 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 in one hour, 49 minutes.
In another second-round upset, Russian qualifier Vesna Manasieva chalked up a 6-2, 6-1 win over third seed Angelique Kerber of Germany in just 74 minutes.
Fourth-seeded Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan also advanced to the third round by beating Lilia Osterloh of the US 6-4, 6-2.
Russian Ekaterina Bychkova’s 6-4, 6-4 victory over India’s Sunitha Rao set up the winner for a quarter-final match against Manasieva, while Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn was headed for a match-up against Radwanska after defeating Russia’s Olga Poutchkova 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Jill Craybas of the US came back from losing the first set to beat Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 and make a third round appointment with Klepac.
Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan defeated fifth seed Tzipora Obziler of Israel 6-4, 6-2 and will face Chan in the quarter-finals.
Results:
Second round: Vesna Manasieva (RUS) bt Angelique Kerber (GER x3) 6-2, 6-1; Chan Yung-jan (TPE x4) bt Lilia Osterloh (USA) 6-4, 6-2; Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x1) bt Anne Kremer (LUX) 6-2, 6-2; Andreja Klepac (SLO) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS x2) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2; Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) bt Olga Poutchkova (RUS) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Ekaterina Bychkova (RUS) bt Sunitha Rao (IND) 6-4, 6-4; Jill Craybas (USA x7) bt Renata Voracova (CZE) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3; Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) bt Tzipora Obziler (ISR x5) 6-4, 6-2.—Agencies
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