Schnyder advances to Bank of West quarter-finals
Saturday, 19 July 2008
STANFORD, California, July 18 (AFP): Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder continued her impressive march through the early rounds here, eliminating Russian Alisa Kleybanova 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 in the second round of the WTA Bank of the West Classic.
Schnyder had her best effort here two years ago, when she reached the final before falling to the now-retired Kim Clijsters of Belgium.
The 29-year-old also reached the semi-finals in 2005 and was a quarter-finalist both last season and in 2004.
Standing between the 13th-ranked Schnyder and another trip to the round of eight was unseeded Kleybanova, who was in the midst of her best season to date.
But Schnyder, who won the previous meeting between the two in the first round at Gold Coast at the beginning of the season, battled through a tough first-set tiebreaker en route to victory Thursday.
With the win, Schnyder booked a quarter-final showdown with top-seeded American Serena Williams, who is 32-4 with three titles this year.
Defending champion Anna Chakvetadze of Russia reached the quarters Wednesday.
The second seed will take on No. 6 Marion Bartoli, who eliminated British qualifier Anne Keothavong 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, Thursday.
Bartoli has battled injury and inconsistent play since her run to the Wimbledon final in 2007 and recently lost her status as a top-10 player, dropping to No. 15.
Schnyder had her best effort here two years ago, when she reached the final before falling to the now-retired Kim Clijsters of Belgium.
The 29-year-old also reached the semi-finals in 2005 and was a quarter-finalist both last season and in 2004.
Standing between the 13th-ranked Schnyder and another trip to the round of eight was unseeded Kleybanova, who was in the midst of her best season to date.
But Schnyder, who won the previous meeting between the two in the first round at Gold Coast at the beginning of the season, battled through a tough first-set tiebreaker en route to victory Thursday.
With the win, Schnyder booked a quarter-final showdown with top-seeded American Serena Williams, who is 32-4 with three titles this year.
Defending champion Anna Chakvetadze of Russia reached the quarters Wednesday.
The second seed will take on No. 6 Marion Bartoli, who eliminated British qualifier Anne Keothavong 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, Thursday.
Bartoli has battled injury and inconsistent play since her run to the Wimbledon final in 2007 and recently lost her status as a top-10 player, dropping to No. 15.