Shaky Serena Leads Top 3 Seeds to Quarterfinals at Dubai

Serena Williams overcame windy conditions and some racquet-smashing frustration to come from a set down to defeat Russia's Elena Bovina 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals at the WTA stop in Dubai.

The American was given a code-of-conduct warning for equipment abuse in the first set, bringing jeers from the Dubai crowd which she later in the game encouraged by waving her arms in the air. In the second set the No. 2 seed returned to business, winning 6-1 then racing to a 4-0 lead in the third.

"I think I was trying to kill myself out there," Serena said. "It was really windy and I had not played in the wind for a while and all my shots were whistling out. It was a shock. I wasn't used to the conditions -- balls were hitting the fence and out and into the net. I had to kind of gather myself."

Bovina recovered herself after losing 10 games in an 11-game stretch, bringing the score from 0-4 to 4-5 in the third before the American successfully served it out.

Other seeded winners into the quarters were (1) Lindsay Davenport (d. (Q) Zheng), (3) Anastasia Myskina (d. Bartoli, who retired in the second with injury), and (8) Patty Schnyder (d. (Q) Li).

Un-seeds advancing into the quarters were wildcard Conchita Martinez (d. (7) Dechy), and Slovak Daniela Hantuchova (d. Likhovtseva).

On tap for the Thursday quarterfinals at Dubai are Myskina vs. Schnyder, Davenport vs. Martinez, Hantuchova vs. Serena, and Jankovic vs. Mirza.