Hingis Stays Alive, Mens Quarters Begin at French Open

Also into the quarters was No. 4 seed Ivan Ljubicic who defeated Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, and lucky-boy Frenchman Julien Benneteau who received an injury retirement from Alberto Martin.

Benneteau reached his first career Slam quarterfinal when Martin retired with a back injury trailing 1-5 in the first set.

Up on Tuesday are (1) Federer vs. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (Federer leads head-to-head 2-1), and (3) Nalbandian vs. (6) Davydenko (Argentine leads 3-2).

Also in men's doubles quarterfinal play, the top-seeded Bryan brothers play against the crowd when they face the French squad of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut.

Hingis Beats Peer for Quarters Berth at French Open

No. 12 seed Martina Hingis, pursuing the only Slam title to elude her, defeated No. 31 seed Shahar Peer of Israel 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the conclusion of a match delayed from Sunday to advance into the quarterfinals at the French Open.

"Yesterday was difficult, under difficult conditions," said Hingis, with the third set of her match concluded Monday. "We waited for a long time and split sets. But I think for me it was better because she had the momentum and I could go out there fresh today. So that probably helped me at the end of the day. I've never played her before, and she's definitely a young, upcoming player. Since last time I saw her, she's improved a lot."

Hingis and Peer were the only singles competitors as doubles second- and third-round action took center stage Monday. In upsets Janette Husarova and Sania Mirza ousting No. 3 seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3, 6-4, and Russians Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Vesnina defeating No. 11 seeds Gisela Dulko and Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-4.

Featured Tuesday in Paris are (2) Clijsters vs. (12) Hingis, (5) Justine Henin-Hardenne vs. (13) Anna-Lena Groenefeld, (8) Kuznetsova vs. (14) Safina in an all-Russian quarterfinal, and (11) Venus vs. (16) Vaidisova.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Venus Williams on her male hitting partners: "Over the years, uhm, I've had different hitting partners at different times of the year, different places in the world. They become friends. Nice people, too, that you can call if you had issues no matter what. Basically just hitting partners that are now my friends, that's who I hit with."...Tommy Robredo on his favorite pick to win the French: "Listen, I'm going home. I'm going on holiday. I'm going to disconnect. I don't think I'm even going to watch the rest of the tournament."...Roger Federer speaking with the media on the U.S.'s problems on clay: "I don't see it as a problem as serious as maybe you guys see it. The players, they know they can do good stuff here at the French Open. I really thought -- actually, I believe if Andy [Roddick] would have been in good shape, I would have seen him at least in the quarters, honestly. You know, [James] Blake beat a good player...when you don't play enough claycourt tournaments leading up to the French Open, that's hard to do. So maybe that's what they should be doing more often."...Let's turn back the clock to 2004 and Martina Hingis commenting on Venus Williams: "People ask me if I think of a comeback, but when I look at Venus, I don't want to end up like that, even if I was healthy and everything was fine. The train is moving fast. Venus hasn't shown anything right now."...From the ATP: "After several successful years as the Official Publication of the ATP, DEUCE Magazine will follow the lead of other "One Game" initiatives by joining forces with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to better serve fans of professional tennis. DEUCE Magazine will be available immediately following Wimbledon, which concludes on July 9." -- How come it's the ATP taking over the initiative for both tours' websites and player guides and magazines -- oh, that's right, because the WTA is awful at that stuff: "DEUCE has been one of the leading tennis publications for the past few years, and we are excited to be joining forces with the ATP to jointly promote professional tennis," said Andrew Walker, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's Vice President, Communications. "The popularity of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and its players will enhance the content of this dynamic magazine, and we look forward to giving readers exclusive access to the tour's stars in the lead-up to the year's final Grand Slam."...Whit Sheppard writing for ESPN.com: "Ironically, [Shahar] Peer faces the peculiar predicament of actually being barred from playing in the WTA event in Dubai. The emirate does not currently allow Israeli passport-holders within its borders. 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He's in control today, hitting with more topspin than he once did -- watching Nadal, perhaps? Young, the No. 2 seed here, has a great game to watch -- he can hit short hops, drops, stick volleys, and his serve is getting better. But the growth spurt everyone's waiting for has still not arrived. It might be time to think about steroids."...From The Telegraph's Claire Middleton on the 35-year-old comeback kid Brenda Schultz-McCarthy: "The owner of a tennis academy set in 360 acres of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, she was coach to the Dutch Fed Cup team last year -- until she discovered that she could beat the players and decided to re-start her career. Ranked 606 in the world, she came through qualifying (at the Surbiton Challenger) and had hoped for a wild card into qualifying for the DFS Classic at Edgbaston next week. She was denied, which seems a bit churlish given that she won the thing back in 1992. "You can't get the winning feeling at an academy and I still want to win. 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And I see the Basel Dazzle putting an end to Nadal's lengthy and super impressive clay-court winning streak."...Mark Nielsen, New Zealand's top tennis player, was banned for two years Monday after testing positive for a masking agent at the Australian Open.