Venus, Russians Struggle Into Quarterfinals at WTA ZurichPosted on October 22, 2004 Russian No. 3 seed Elena Dementieva (d. countrywoman Bovina, bagel in the third) and No. 8 Nadia Petrova (d. Dechy in three) struggled into the quarterfinals at the WTA stop in Zurich Thursday, joined by No. 7 Venus Williams (d. teen (Q) Ana Ivanovic in two tiebreaks) and homecountry favorite No. 10 Patty Schnyder (d. Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga).
The match was the 16-year-old Serb Ivanovic's to lose against Venus, blowing five sets points in the first set over the American, then three in the second set. "I was always in control, but there were a lot of times I let her come back so it was a lot closer than it should have been," said Venus, suspending reality. "She played very well. She's a very good player. But I also helped her." Ivanovic was the Wimbledon junior runner-up earlier this year. Argentine's Paola Suarez was the only unseeded player advancing into the quarterfinals on the day, getting a pass when Frenchwoman Emilie Loit retired with injury trailing 1-6, 2-2. Friday's quarterfinal match-ups are (9) Sugiyama vs. (3) Dementieva (career meetings tied 2-2, with Russian winning last two), (7) Venus vs. (4) Sharapova (first meeting), (10) Schnyder vs. Suarez (Suarez leads 5-2, but has lost the last two), and (8) Petrova vs. Molik (Russian leads 1-0). |
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