Stuttgart. The favourites all survived the last second round matches at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Jelena Jankovic (Serbia), the new No. 1, and Nadia Petrova (Russia), the 2006 winner, both advanced to the quarterfinals of the 650,000 dollar tournament, as did Venus Williams (USA) and Dinara Safina (Russia).
After winning the China Open in Beijing over the weekend, Jelena Jankovic also lived up to her status as favourite in her first match in the Porsche Arena. She overcame Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-0 and was obviously well pleased. She considered, “It was a good start to the tournament, but the tough opponents are still to come.” One of them is Vera Zvonareva, the player she has to face in the quarterfinals. The Olympic bronze medal winner in Beijing and the world No. 9 beat Marion Bartoli from France, who celebrated her 24th birthday on Thursday, by the same score, 6-2, 6-0. But the birthday girl did not receive any gifts. “Sure, I knew it was Marion’s birthday today,” she said “I congratulated her, but on court I don’t give any presents. It’s my first time in the Porsche Arena and it’s very exciting. The hall is fantastic and it’s fun playing here.”
Venus Williams (USA) was also a convincing winner. She hit no fewer than 12 aces in her match against Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) when winning 6-4, 6-2. ”I served really well today,” she said. “I was able to win my service games easily. It makes everything far simpler. But Kateryna made me work hard and played very well. I had to move around a lot and work hard for the match.”
The 28-year-old world No. 8 will face Dinara Safina, the No. 3, in the quarterfinals, who defeated the qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 6-1, 7-6 (6). ”I’ve never played against Dinara Safina,” said the American, “I hope I’ll play just as well as my sister Serena did against her at the US Open.”
Another player in the next round is Nadia Petrova, who won the first Porsche Tennis Grand Prix to be played in the Porsche Arena in 2006. She ousted Patty Schnyder from Switzerland 6-4, 6-1. In the round of the last eight the Russian will meet Na Li from China, who surprisingly knocked out the US Open winner Serena Williams (USA). The fourth quarterfinal will be between Elena Dementieva (Russia) and Victoria Azarenka (Belarus), who both booked their tickets for the quarters on Wednesday.
Through to the next round in the doubles is the German/Swiss team Anna-Lena Grönefeld/Patty Schnyder, who beat Jelena Kostanic Tosic/Tatiana Perebiynis (Croatia/Ukraine) 7-6 (4), 6-2. Also successful were Victoria Azarenka/Agnieszka Radwanska (Belarus/Poland), who overcame the Czechs Renata Voracova/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-3, 6-2. Another Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka were handed a walkover after an injury forced Serena Williams to withdrew from the match she was due to play with her sister Venus.
The one remaining spot in the semifinals is up for grabs in the match between the top seeds Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs (Czech Republic/Australia) and the Germans Andrea Petkovic/Jasmin Wöhr.
