Doubles - First Round (2) Govortsova/Kudryavtseva (BLR/RUS) d. (WC) Rae/Watson (GBR/GBR) 64 76(4) (3) Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. (WC) Ivanovic/Paszek (SRB/AUT) w/o (Ivanovic: left wrist injury) Dellacqua/Scheepers (AUS/RSA) d. (4) Grandin/Uhlirova (RSA/CZE) 76(7) 46 108 Cirstea/Erakovic (ROU/NZL) d. Kanepi/Rybarikova (EST/SVK) 57 63 119
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Daniela Hantuchova, Alison Riske and Mirjana Lucic all won their third round matches at the AEGON Classic on Thursday to move into the quarter-finals.
Hantuchova, the Slovakian fourth seed, continued to look impressive as she dropped only six games in a 6-4, 6-2 win over Alla Kudryavtseva in the first match of the day on Centre Court.
When asked what was the key to her win, the world No28 replied, "Like yesterday really, my serve was solid and I was really aggressive in my play.
"I feel great on grass right now, I didn't expect to be playing so well, I'm really happy so far."
In the last eight Hantuchova will play the 2010 semi-finalist Alison Riske after the American won a tight match against French eighth seed Aravane Rezai, winning 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-2.
Also through in the earlier matches on day four was former Wimbledon semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, who overcame Andrea Hlavackova 6-2, 7-6(4).
Lucic will play the winner of Ivanovic vs Marino in the quarter-finals.
Ana Ivanovic has beaten Canada’s Rebecca Marino 6-3, 6-2 to cement her place in the women's quarter finals at of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham.
The grass agreed with the Serb who stayed aggressive throughout the match against an equally big hitter. The victorious second seed said afterwards:
"I just focused on my own serve and on her second serve I stepped in and was aggressive. I felt good out there, I just kept thinking positively and tried to perform the best I could." Ivanovic will now meet Mirjana Lucic of Croatia in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile Britain’s remaining hope, Heather Watson, was defeated by China’s third seed Shuai Peng 7-6(1), 6-1.
After a tight first set Watson’s singles run in the tournament came to an end as her opponent’s experience overwhelmed her.
The 19 year Briton said afterwards: "I played a really bad tie break and after that my confidence went down. I tried to forget about it and just started fresh in the second set but my returns let me down today."
The Briton’s disappointment continued into doubles as the all British pair of Watson & Joss Rae were beaten 6-4, 7-6(4) by second seeds Olga Govortsova & Alla Kudryavtseva.
Rae served consistently strongly but some poor net play from both players meant they missed out on the big points when it mattered.
Watson's losses didn't seem to dampen her spirits for the rest of the season on the grass. "I feel like I am getting stronger mentally as well and I am excited for next week at Eastbourne," said the world No.93 who reached the second round of the AEGON International in 2010 before losing to Viktoria Azarenka.
Peng will now go on to play Marina Erakovic after the New Zealander defeated Sara Errani, the Italian third seed, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 on Court 3.
The fourth singles quarter-final will see Sabine Lisicki of Germany take on Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.
The unseeded German was a straight sets victor over Tamira Paszek earlier, winning 7-6(1), 6-4, whilst 2009 winner and 14th seed Rybarikova saw off Russian qualifier Arina Rodionova 6-7(1), 6-0, 6-1.
Top seeds Huber & Raymond are into the doubles semi-finals after a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Chang & Chuang. They will face either Aoyama & Fujiwara or Errani & Vinci after the Italian third seeds received a walkover against Ivanovic & Paszek.
In the remaining doubles matches Casey Dellacqua & Chanelle Scheepers upset fourth seeds Natalie Grandin & Vladimira Uhlirova in a tight 7-6(7), 4-6, 10-8 scoreline. They will now face Sorana Cirstea & Marina Erakovic after the pair came from a set down to narrowly win 5-7, 6-3, 11-9 against Kaia Kanepi & Magdalena Rybarikova.
