The Hindu : Sport : Hingis beats Dementieva, enters quarterfinals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 12, 2006

Sport

Sport

Hingis beats Dementieva, enters quarterfinals

BERLIN: Martina Hingis beat fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the German Open quarterfinals.

Hingis mixed her precise shots to constantly switch the pace to set up a surprisingly easy win on the clay court. Dementieva routed her 6-2, 6-0 at Tokyo in February — the Swiss' only final since she came back in January from a three-year injury retirement.

It was the second time this week Hingis had avenged a previous loss. In the first round, she ousted Italy's Flavia Pennetta — the first player to beat her on her comeback.

"This is becoming the week of revenge," Hingis said. "Last time, I didn't have a chance. This is one of best matches I have played."'

Hingis needed just 75 minutes to oust the eighth-ranked Dementieva from the French Open warmup. Her only real trouble came when she fought off three break chances while leading 2-1 in the second set.

Hingis had trouble with Dementieva before injuries forced her temporary retirement. In 2001 and 2002, the Russian beat her in two one-sided matches.

The Swiss has two wins over top five players and reached the quarterfinals at seven of nine events on her comeback, including the Australian Open.

Eighth straight win

Meanwhile at Rome, fourth-seeded David Nalbandian won his eighth straight match on Thursday, beating Spain's Alberto Martin 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Rome Masters quarterfinals.

Last week, Nalbandian won his first title of the year in Estoril. He improved to 11-1 on clay this season.

Nalbandian, who played aggressively and came to the net often, hit 33 winners to Martin's 15 as a light rain fell for parts of the match.

Nalbandian reached the final here in 2004, losing to Spain's Carlos Moya.

Federer moves on

Joining Nalbandian in the last eight was the top seed Roger Federer, who defeated Radek Stepanek.

The world number one, who has reached the final of the last five ATP Masters Series events in which he has played and won four of them, took just 56 minutes to beat the Czech 14th seed 6-1, 6-4.

Federer, who lost to Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo last month, had to fight back from 40-0 down when 5-4 ahead in the second set before clinching victory.

The results:

At Rome (ATP Rome Masters): Third round: David Nalbandian bt Alberto Martin 7-5, 6-4; Mario Ancic bt Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5; Roger Federer bt Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-4. Second round: Rafael Nadal bt Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-2; Tim Henman bt Thomas Johansson 7-6(8), 6-1; Stepanek bt Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 7-6(5); Fernando Gonzalez bt Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 5-7, 6-3; Hidalgo bt Marat Safin 0-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(3); Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) bt Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 6-1, 3-6, 6-0; Federer bt Potito Starace 6-3, 7-6(2); Mario Ancic bt Florent Serra 3-6, 7-6 (10), 6-0

At Berlin (WTA German Open): Third round: Martina Hingis bt Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2; Li Na bt Catalina Castano 6-1, 6-0; Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 6-1; Dinara Safina bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-2. Second round: Anna Smashnova bt Virginie Razzano 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; Henin-Hardenne bt Mara Santangelo 6-4, 6-1; Daniela Hantuchova bt Katarina Srebotnick (SLO) 6-4, 0-6, 6-1.

At Prague (WTA ECM Prague Open): Second round: Alona Bondarenko bt Melinda Czink 2-6, 6-0, 6-2; Shahar Peer bt Zuzanka Ondraskova 7-6 (6), 0-6, 6-3; Maria Elena Camerin bt Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5, 6-4.

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