Hingis Edges Stosur for QF Berth at Australian Open

Posted on January 23, 2006

Unseeded Martina Hingis continued her unprecedented roll Monday at the Australian Open against her hardest-charging opponent yet, downing Aussie serve-and-volleyer Sam Stosur 6-1, 7-6(8) to move into the quarterfinals.

"Making the last eight coming into this event, I would have never thought I got that far," Hingis said. "Now here I am. Really no one can take that away from me anymore. Just really happy right now. I started off very well, I knew that I had to be right there from the start -- we both probably were very nervous," Hingis said. "I knew I couldn't give her any momentum."

Stosur, who out-hit Hingis from the baseline in the power department but failed to match her consistency, led 5-2 in the tiebreak before succumbing.

Hingis will next meet No. 2 seed Kim Clijsters, who propelled herself to a pain-killer-fueled win over No. 15 seed Francesca Schiavone 7-6(5), 6-4.

"I always have really good matches against her," Clijsters said of Schiavone. "I always look forward to playing against her because you always have -- she's not a girl who's going to hit you off the court. She's not a girl who hits as hard as, let's say, Lindsay Davenport. But she is a girl that moves incredibly well, can come up with really good shots and never gives up. That's fun to play against someone like that. You can really go for your shots. You always have to expect every ball back again. It's fun to play these kind of matches."

Clijsters said she played without pain during the match, but not necessarily because her hip and back injuries are behind her.

"My injury's not gone," Clijster said. "The pain is gone because of the tablets I'm taking. That's a way for me to block it out, yes. So that's a good sign that I can be out there and play without feeling the pain."

Two other Top 10 seeds cruised into the quarterfinals Monday when No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo crushed No. 16 Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 6-0, and No. 7 Patty Schnyder rolled over No. 12-seeded Russian Anastasia Myskina 6-2, 6-1.

"I know if I mix it up, like either her forehand and backhand can break down a little bit," Schnyder said of Myskina. "That's what happened. So, yeah, I just felt comfortable like going to her backhand because it favors my forehand cross-court, which is my best shot. So, yeah. But I could always have changed it. I mean, I feel pretty good from the back."

Mauresmo was helped by Vaidisova committing 34 unforced errors to the Frenchwoman's two.

"Obviously, just putting the ball in and taking the opportunities when I would have them was probably going to be the key," Mauresmo said. "I didn't think, though, that it was going to be this kind of score or this kind of a match. Yeah, I mean, she made way too many errors...She's tall and she's already very powerful for 16. Maybe sometimes not so coordinated, but this is probably going to come."

Scheduled for Tuesday in quarterfinal action in Melbourne are (4) Sharapova vs. (6) Petrova in an all-Russian, and (1) Davenport vs. (8) Henin-Hardenne.