ESPN Tennis

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Emilie Loit of France beat defending champion and countrywoman Marion Bartoli 7-5, 6-4 Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the ASB Women's Tennis Classic.

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Bartoli struggled to find her game in windy conditions, sticking to the baseline and hitting her two-handed forehands and backhands short and often through the middle of the court.

Loit took advantage of Bartoli's hesitance with some strong passing shots, reeling of 14 straight points at a crucial stretch in the first set.

She served for the match at 5-3 in the second, dropped serve, but clinched the match on Bartoli's serve and on her second match point.

"It's so good, an unbelievable day," Loit said. "It's maybe the fourth or fifth time in life to beat a player in the top 20. My forehand is my best shot and today it was a very good shot."

Two-time champion Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, the seventh seed, was pushed for more than 2 hours, 15 minutes by New Zealand's Marina Erakovic before winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Daniilidou, who won the Auckland title in 2002 and 2003, was also troubled by the swirling winds which forced her to curb her groundstrokes.

"It was very tough today," she said. "The wind was changing with every point, even changing within the rallies so I really had to push myself a little bit harder today."

Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia moved easily into the final eight, beating Emma Laine of Finland 6-2, 6-1. Jankovic, still suffering from jet lag after arriving in New Zealand on Monday, had too much power for Laine and set up a quarterfinals meeting with Daniilidou.

"I'm in the quarterfinals and I'm really happy, especially in the first tournament of the year," Jankovic said. "It's a good start for me."

Virginie Razzano of France upset third-seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 7-5, while Frenchwoman Camille Pin beat Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Also, fifth-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia advanced with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Laura Granville of the United States, and Paola Suarez of Argentina beat Sun Tiantian of China 7-5, 6-4.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press