Mauresmo, Davenport Into Beijing Quarters

After the exit of No.4 seed Nicole Vaidisova and defending champion Maria Kirilenko the day before, Thursday provided no such shocks for seeds Amelie Mauresmo, Nadia Petrova, Lindsay Davenport, Jelena Jankovic and Li Na, who all advanced to the last eight.

World No.1 Mauresmo, making her China Open debut, impressed the Beijing crowd with her stellar play even if it was at the expense of home favorite Sun Tiantian. The Chinese wildcard put up a brave fight but Mauresmo, successful on 74% of her first serve points, was too experienced for the 2004 Olympic doubles gold medalist.

"I'm happy about the game I played," said Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Mauresmo, making her first appearance since a semifinal finish at the US Open. "It's never easy to play your first match; I'm happy that I finally played here, and I'm looking forward to the next round."

After a phenomenal start to the year, sweeping four titles and rising to No.3 in the world, Nadia Petrova's momentum was halted mid-season by a hip injury. Having gone 2-6 since winning the German Open in May, pulling out of Wimbledon, Petrova is slowing regaining her form, reaching the third round at the US Open in her most recent tournament.

On Thursday, No.3-seeded Petrova advanced to the quarterfinals here with a routine 61 62 win over Greek qualifier Eleni Daniilidou.

Joining Petrova in the last eight is former world No.1 Lindsay Davenport, who was set to make her Beijing debut last year but a nagging back injury (which also affected her for much of 2006) prevented her from doing so. Coming off a semifinal finish last week in Bali, Davenport halted a fast-finishing Zheng Jie, setting up a quarterfinal clash with Mauresmo after a 62 76(4) win over the Chinese No.2.

"I played well in the first set, but in the second set I made some errors and didn't play as I did in the first one. I did well in the tie-break, however," said Davenport.

Despite being currently ranked 11 spots below No.1 Mauresmo, Davenport has won her last nine matches against the Frenchwoman and 12 of their 15 encounters overall. She hasn't lost to Mauresmo since the Sydney final in January 2000.

"It's a little funny and weird to know I've beaten her that many times in a row," added Davenport. "She's obviously a great player, and now the No.1 player in the world. I don't expect an easy match tomorrow; I'll need to play better than today."

Zheng, the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion in doubles with compatriot Yan Zi, was one of four Chinese women to reach the second round in their home Tour event. Hampered by an ankle injury, Zheng said she struggled with her movement during the match and even considered retiring from the match.

"I was a little bit nervous in the first set," admitted Zheng. "I tried to make her move during the match but she was very aggressive today and I could not move fast because of my injury. I thought of withdrawing, but the audience supported me very much, and that made me stick to the end."

No.6 seed Jankovic is making her first appearance since a surprise run to the US Open semifinals; she was set to play last week in Bali but withdrew due to a back injury. Playing her first match since narrowly losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne in New York (she held a point for a 64 52 lead), Jankovic defeated Bali runner-up Marion Bartoli of France, 63 62.

The Serbian has enjoyed a brilliant second half of 2006 having started the season losing 10 of her first 11 matches and even considered quitting pro tennis.

"Now I'm more confident, and I really enjoy the game I'm playing," said Jankovic, who meets Petrova Friday for a semifinal berth. "At the beginning of the year, I didn't enjoy the game at all, and I wasn't fighting. I was not the same person as I am now; I wasn't concentrating at that time."

Li Na, the No.7 seed and one of two Chinese women through to the quarterfinals, set up a tantalizing showdown with No.2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova with a 36 61 61 win over another Russian, Elena Vesnina.

In the second round here two years ago Li held two match points against freshly-crowned US Open champion Kuznetsova, a week before becoming China's first ever Tour singles champion by winning the Guangzhou title. That match against Kuznetsova brought the hard-hitting Li to the attention of tennis experts, and having been barely ranked in the Top 200 this time two years ago she recently debuted in the Top 20, another first for a Chinese woman.

All four quarterfinals are set down for decision on Friday. The other quarterfinal features China's Peng Shuai and Japan's Ai Sugiyama, who won their second round matches on Wednesday.
-- WTA