Dementieva, Szavay, Razzano, Dechy, Cornet advance at Gaz de France
PARIS -- Elena Dementieva of Russia and Agnes Szavay of Hungary overcame resistance from unseeded opponents Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Open Gaz de France.
The fourth-seeded Dementieva defeated Petra Kvitova 7-6 (7), 6-2 while No. 7 Szavay beat Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Kvitova traded two breaks of serve with Dementieva, forcing a tiebreak where two unforced errors cost the Czech qualifier the first set.
"During the tiebreaker, it was so close," Dementieva said. "I knew I had to go for the winner. Otherwise, she was going to kill the ball. She was going for the winner all the time. I didn't want to play defensive today."
Kvitova had opportunities again in the second set but wasted five break points to let Dementieva finish with a return winner.
"I knew it was going to be a tough match for me because she won four matches here," Dementieva said. "She was playing really well today. She's serving very hard and she has a very powerful play. It was not an easy first round for me."
Meanwhile, Szavay earned an early break in the third set and completed her victory on her second match point when Garbin netted a ground stroke.
Szavay broke Garbin at 3-3 and won the first set when Garbin double-faulted. But the Italian saved three break points at 5-4 in the second and rallied to square the match.
Dementieva will take on either Yuliana Fedak or Kateryna Bondarenko, both of Ukraine, while Szavay will meet the winner of Thursday's match between second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.
Earlier on Wednesday, Frenchwomen Virginie Razzano, Nathalie Dechy and Alize Cornet advanced to the second round.
Razzano outlasted eighth-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to face Cornet, who beat Klara Zakopalova 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. Dechy edged Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-6 (8) and will next play top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.
"I could have lost today against Alona," Razzano said. "Two days ago, I could barely walk at the airport after arriving from China."
She, Dechy, and Cornet were on the French team eliminated by China in the first round of the Fed Cup last weekend.
In the beginning of the third set, Razzano had her back and legs massaged twice. On her first match point, she hit a forehand winner on Bondarenko's serve.
"Maybe I was more aggressive in the key moments of the third set," Razzano said.
China's Peng led Dechy 5-0 in the second-set tiebreak, and Dechy ended up saving six set points to close the match on Peng's unforced error.
"Down 6-1, I told myself why wouldn't I try to rally? Just play one point at a time, give nothing away." she said.
The 18-year-old Cornet erased seven break points and broke serve three times in the third set to beat Czech qualifier Zakopalova.
"Even if I started slowly, I then really fought hard to get the victory," Cornet said.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
