Dechy ousts Srebotnik; Kirilenko, Petrova, Lisicki advance
MASON, Ohio -- Unseeded Nathalie Dechy rolled through a third-set tiebreak to beat fourth-seeded Katarina Srebotnik 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (1) on Wednesday, earning a berth in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Women's Open.
Srebotnik held serve at love in her last two service games of the third set, but Dechy won the first five points of the tiebreak before connecting on a forehand volley at match point to clinch her third win in five career matches against the Slovenian.
"She started serving really well at the end of the match, and I didn't get a chance to finish," Dechy said. "As soon as the tiebreaker started, I knew I had to be aggressive and keep the pressure up."
Third-seeded Maria Kirilenko avoided an upset and reached the quarterfinals with a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over qualifier Stephanie Dubois.
Second-seeded Nadia Petrova, the highest seed remaining after No. 1 Marion Bartoli had to retire from her first-round match Tuesday night with abdominal pain, also advanced by easily beating Julie Ditty 6-1, 6-1.
Kirilenko came from behind twice, after losing the first set and seeing her serve broken at the beginning of the third, to advance in the $175,000 tournament.
"I knew it was going to be a tough match," said the 25th-ranked Kirilenko, who lost a third-set tiebreak to the Canadian at Montreal last week.
Dubois broke the Russian in the first game of the third set and then hit the baseline with a lob to hold serve for a 2-0 lead. Kirilenko pulled even with a service break in the sixth game, and both players held serve until Dubois sent a backhand long on Kirilenko's third match point.
"I made a lot of mistakes in the first set," said Kirilenko, who reached the round of 16 in Germany and Rome earlier this year. "When the second set began, I decided I had to change up. I started hitting a lot of heavy balls and lobs, and I saw she didn't know what to do with those. Sometimes, you have to win ugly."
Kirilenko will play Sabine Lisicki, who beat Frenchwoman Camille Pin 6-3, 6-4 to become the first player to reach the quarterfinals. Lisicki, a German ranked 81st on the WTA Tour, used a 7-0 advantage in aces to help overcome nine double faults to Pin's two in beating the 78th-ranked player.
Petrova, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist, won 11 consecutive games after Ditty held serve to open the match. Ditty double-faulted on chances to hold serve in the third and fifth games, allowing the 21st-ranked Russian to take control. After that, Petrova's main challenge was staying focused in the second-shortest match of the tournament -- just over 57 minutes.
"After I broke her to go up 2-1 and 4-1, she seemed to lose her confidence," said Petrova, who questioned a line call on a serve by Ditty while leading 5-0 in the second set. "I knew I still had to be at the top of my game and not give her any easy games. What I liked about today was I was able to keep the pressure on -- to ensure my level of play and not give her any easy points."
Petrova will play wild-card entry Lilia Osterloh, who reached the quarterfinals of the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open for the second consecutive year, this time with an easy 6-4, 6-1 upset of 70th-ranked Petra Cetkovska.
"I pressured her forehand a little bit," said Osterloh, who grew up in Columbus, about an hour north of the tournament site. "Once I got my serve going and my feet moving, I was able to move the ball around on her and make her play."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
