No. 72-ranked
Akiko Morigami scored the upset of the event Thursday at the WTA stop in Cincinnati, ousting No. 2 seed
Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2.
"I just tried to concentrate on my game and not think about who was on the other side of the net," Morigami said. "I played aggressive, because you have to play aggressive against Vera. If I would have played defensive against her, she would have killed me."
Also surviving into the quarterfinals were (3)
Jelena Jankovic (d. (Q) Bammer), India's darling
Sania Mirza (d. Brandi), and American qualifier
Bethanie Mattek who benefited from Frenchwoman
Camille Pin retiring from their match trailing 3-6, 0-2 with a sore throat.
"Kristina is a different player to play against," the 18-year-old Mirza said after the win over Brandi. "She gets a lot of balls in the court and likes to keep the ball low. She was breaking my rhythm a lot today."
In Friday quarterfinal action are (1) Schnyder vs. Peer, (3) Jankovic vs. (Q) Mattek, (4) Hantuchova vs. Cho, and Morigami vs. Mirza.
