Clijsters v Streaking Zvonareva Tonight at WTA Stanford

STANFORD, CA, USA -- Three seeds and one wild card powered into the Bank of the West Classic quarterfinals on Thursday, as second round action came to completion at the Tier II Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event, also the first leg of the 2006 US Open Series.

First up on Stadium Court was Vera Zvonareva, who extended her summer hardcourt win streak to seven matches with a 76(5) 60 win over Nathalie Dechy. Zvonareva, a wild card this week, trailed 3-1 in the tie-break, but then brought out the form that last week took her to the Cincinnati title, firing big serves and groundstrokes to perfection en route to the quick, straight set victory. It was also her seventh consecutive victory against the Frenchwoman.

"It was a tough first set for me," Zvonareva said afterwards. "She was playing really well, and I got lucky in the tie-break. I was able to come back from 3-1 down in the tie-break, which gave me momentum into the second set. I felt like I was cruising in the second set."

Also winning through to the last eight in the day session were No.2 seed Patty Schnyder and No.4 seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who both notched two set victories over unseeded opponents. Schnyder defeated Japanese qualifier Akiko Morigami, 61 64, while Groenefeld recovered from a break down in the second set to move past Russian qualifier Vasilisa Bardina, 63 75. Both were semifinalists at this event in 2005 and have continued their good form here this year.

"On these fast surfaces it's important to move well and get a high percentage of your first serves in, which is what I was able to do in this match," Schnyder said. "I really wanted to win today and keep my focus. Today was all about winning and getting to the next round."

Czech phenom Nicole Vaidisova, who was steadily climbing the rankings for the better part of two years before bursting into prominence by reaching the Roland Garros semifinals this year, made her much-anticipated Stanford debut Thursday evening, downing Austrian Sybille Bammer, 61 64. The No.3-seeded Vaidisova's win brought the seeds to 3-0 on Thursday.

Friday's quarterfinals feature all four top seeds battling unseeded challengers. Top seed and three-time champion Kim Clijsters battles Zvonareva, Schnyder takes on American veteran Jill Craybas, Vaidisova takes on world No.1 doubles player Samantha Stosur, and Groenefeld faces French teenager Tatiana Golovin.

Zvonareva's match with Clijsters pits arguably the hottest player of the summer hardcourt season thus far against last year's clear-cut hottest hardcourt player.

"I played her at Wimbledon in the first round, and it was not an easy match," Zvonareva stated. "We all know she's a great player. I'm going to go out there and give it my best. I didn't see her play [her first round] last night but I know what to expect. We all get to watch her a lot because she's one of the best."

Schnyder was also apprehensive when it came to her next opponent, Craybas.

"She's a very solid player," said Schnyder, who was pushed to three sets in her only prior encounter with Craybas, in the first round of the 2000 US Open. "That's probably her best weapon. She doesn't have any specific dangerous weapon but again, she's very solid."

Quarterfinal Friday begins at noon local time with Groenefeld against Golovin, followed immediately by Schnyder against Craybas. Vaidisova will face Stosur afterwards. Clijsters and Zvonareva play the feature evening match, beginning at 7:30pm local time, followed by the only remaining doubles quarterfinal, pitting Cincinnati champions Maria Elena Camerin and Gisela Dulko against Ukrainian sisters Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko.
-- WTA