Hingis Falls to Schnyder in Berlin

BERLIN, Germany - Rain continued to wreak havoc on the Qatar Telecom German Open on Thursday, but nevertheless six of the eight round of 16 matches scheduled for the day were completed. Among those reaching the quarterfinals of the $1,340,000, Tier I event was Patty Schnyder, who bounced Swiss countrywoman Martina Hingis.

Schnyder, who had suffered opening round exits at her three previous tournaments in Miami, Amelia Island and Charleston, had been working her way back into match form in her early rounds this week with straight set wins over Roberta Vinci and Virginia Ruano Pascual; and she displayed more classic form during her 64 60 win over Hingis, breaking away after going down 4-3 in the first set to win nine straight games. It was her first win over Hingis in the pair's three completed matches.

Hingis was not at her best, however, still struggling with an injured hip flexor.

"I haven't felt my best physically for a couple of weeks now, and I need to work on that; the cold heavy weather and the stopping and starting didn't help my hip or my leg either," Hingis said. "But she handled the conditions much better than I did and just played much better. She played smart and deserved to win.

"I wanted to do the right thing and finish the match out of respect for Patty."

"In the first set I hit a lot of angles, and my tactics worked well; we had lots of long rallies and close games," Schnyder said. "I think she was playing with a bit of pain and that definitely showed in the second set."

The victory over the world No.7 represents a continuation of a turnaround for an encouraged Schnyder; she is now into her third quarterfinal of the season, after back-to-back runs to the same round at Dubai and Doha in February, and she picks up her first Top 10 win since last August, going 0-5 against the elite since.

Next up for the No.15-seeded Schnyder will be No.12 seed Ana Ivanovic, who had a 63 50 retirement victory over Alona Bondarenko earlier Thursday, after the Ukrainian suffered a left ankle sprain. She is 4-1 against the Serbian, though that defeat came in their only encounter since 2005, at Warsaw just over a year ago.

"It's going to be a tough match," the Swiss said. "Her game suits the conditions much better - she can use her power. For me it's tougher to hit topspin."

Also grabbing berths in the final eight before rain and darkness interfered were Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Dinara Safina and Serbian Jelena Jankovic. No.3 seed Kuznetsova defeated Martina Müller, 63 62; No.7 seed Petrova beat No.10 seed Elena Dementieva, 63 63; No.8 seed Safina fought back from a set down to take down Lucie Safarova, 36 63 62; and No.5 seed Jankovic advanced with a 61 67(3) 23 win when Peng Shuai sprained her left ankle.

No.2 seed Amélie Mauresmo's match against Julia Vakulenko was postponed with the Frenchwoman leading 62 11 due to darkness; top seed Justine Henin's match with Maria Elena Camerin never took the court. Both matches are up on Friday.

Four of the eight round of 16 doubles matches were also postponed to Friday. The teams making it through were No.1 seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur and the unseeded pairings of Laura Granville and Jelena Kostanic Tosic, Janette Husarova and Meghann Shaughnessy, and Tathiana Garbin and Roberta Vinci.

The remaining round of 16 matches in both singles and doubles, as well as all of the quarterfinals in both disciplines, take the court Friday in the German capital. (WTA)