Mirza, Hingis Into Kolkata Quarters

KOLKATA, India -- Only three seeded players are part of the quarterfinal line-up at the Sunfeast Open 2006. No.1 Martina Hingis, No.4 Aravane Rezai and No.5 Sania Mirza are the favorites in a field of contestants with limited Sony Ericsson WTA Tour experience.

Indian teenager and crowd favorite Mirza advanced Thursday with a 75 63 win over Sandra Kloesel to reach her third quarterfinal of the season.

"I was glad to get out with a win in two sets," Mirza said. "(Kloesel) played much better than her ranking (indicates). I was down 15-40 on my serve at 6-5 in the first set and managed to come back to take the set. This was a key game. I also fought back from being down 1-3 in the second set. The game to break for 2-3 was important, as there is a big difference from being down 2-3 or 1-4 with two breaks."

"I'm taking it one match at a time," Mirza added. "I'm really happy to be here in the quarterfinals in front of a great Kolkata crowd. I play (Aravane) Rezai next and she's had a great year. It's going to be a tough match, but I'm looking forward to it."

Rezai upset Top 10 star Elena Dementieva en route to the US Open fourth round this year and cruised through her second round match here by dropping only three games.

Hingis is facing Tamarine Tanasugarn in the other top half quarterfinal. In the bottom half, Olga Poutchkova is taking on Alberta Brianti and Alla Kudryavtseva is facing Iroda Tulyaganova.

Brianti won two ITF singles events this year and made a good impression at Montreal, upsetting Mirza in the first round. She sprained her ankle early in the second set of her 76(7) 36 63 victory over Angelique Widjaja but was treated on court.

"I was playing so well and then I fell," Brianti said. "It hurt so much to move initially but the tape helped. The more I played, the better it felt. By the third set, the pain virtually stopped and I was able to move better and get the match back on track. Right now I don't feel any pain, but I'll get some preventative treatment tonight so that I'm at my best for the quarterfinals."

Poutchkova upset No.7 seed Nicole Pratt, 62 26 62, to enter her second Tour quarterfinal. The Russian served for the match at 5-1 in the third set and didn't take advantage of four match points. But executed in the ensuing game.

"I started playing so well in the second set," Poutchkova said. "My serve wasn't working as well. Pratt is a great player and she put on the pressure. In the third set, I really focused and my game was fantastic. But I got nervous when serving for the match. I try to play every ball and point as if it were the same, but the crowd was calling out "match point" and it made it more difficult. I'm happy that I refocused and won the match."

Uzbekistan's qualifier Tulyaganova, who four years ago ranked as high as No.16 in the world, defeated Casey Dellacqua, 63 62.

"I'm so happy to be back and playing," said Tulyaganova, who plays her first Tour event this season and was sidelined the last two years with a right elbow injury. "I love being out here and winning. The surface here (Greenset indoors) is really good for me."

Kudryavtseva, who eliminated No.8 seed Anastassia Rodionova in the first round, routed Hana Sromova, 62 60.
-- WTA