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NEW HAVEN (Connecticut), Aug 23: Unseeded Russian Anastasia Myskina followed up her victory over Justine Henin by reeling off 11 straight games to upset Martina Hingis 6-7 6-4 6-0 in the quaterfinals of the New Haven Open Thursday.
In other last eight matches, the leading players all advanced with defending champion Venus Williams needing just 53 minutes to dismiss rising American Laura Granville 6-2 6-1 in her match.
Second seed Lindsay Davenport reached her fourth semifinal since returning to the tour after missing the seven months of the season with a knee injury, edging two tough sets to overcome sixth seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France 7-6 6-3.
Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, the seventh seed, also reached the semi-finals with a comfortable 6-4 6-3 win over Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder.
Myskina found herself facing defeat in the second set, down 4-1 and a break point that would have left Hingis serving for the match.
But she continued to challenge the former number one in long baseline rallies and held for 4-2 before breaking the fifth seed to love.
The Russian then levelled at 4-4 and broke Hingis again, before serving out for the set.
Myskina just concentrated on playing each point and ignored the score.
The Russian now faces Davenport for a place in the final.
Granville has been making her mark this summer, winning 24 of her last 31 matches. She beat Mary Pierce on her way to the fourth round at Wimbledon, and just last week she qualified and reached the third round of the Canadian Open.
She broke Williams in the opening game, but that was virtually the end of her challenge.
She immediately lost her own serve and double-faulted three times in her next service game as Williams gained control. In the second set, the top seed won 11 of the last 12 points.
Davenport surrendered a bundle of chances before securing the first set from Mauresmo, and took the second on just a single break of serve in a tightly contested battle.
The American led 40-0 on Mauresmo’s serve in the opening game, and finally broke to lead 3-2 on her fifth break point. Then, serving at 5-4, Davenport dropped her serve and then faced two set points in the tiebreak before claiming it with a forehand winner.
In the second set, Davenport went ahead on her fourth break point, and then had to hold off a break point as she served out at 5-3.
Results:
Quarterfinals: Anastasia Myskina (Russia) beat 5-Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-0; 7-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 6-4 6-3; 1-Venus Williams (U.S.) beat Laura Granville (U.S.) 6-2 6-1; 2-Lindsay Davenport (U.S.) beat 6-Amelie Mauresmo (France) 7-6 (9-7) 6-3
COMMACK (New York): Defending champion Tommy Haas overcame a sluggish start to defeat Agustin Calleri 4-6 6-2 6-1 Thursday to advance to the quaterfinals of the TD Waterhouse Cup.
The top-seeded German, who is nursing a sore shoulder, had to rally from being a set down for the second consecutive match but he eventually wore down the 16th-seeded Argentinean in the final two sets.
Despite the victory Haas’s shoulder was clearly bothering him once again.
In other third round action, fifth-seeded Alex Corretja of Spain had to battle for nearly three hours before finally getting the better of Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden 5-7 6-4 6-3.
Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, the number four seed, easily trounced 14th-seeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-0 6-2 to also advance to the last eight.
Seventh seed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina also advanced with a 7-5 7-6 victory over American Jan-Michael Gambill.
Meanwhile, the match between number 11 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Brazil’s Flavio Saretta was postponed by rain with Saretta leading 3-1 in the first set.
It will be concluded on Friday morning.
American Mardy Fish also moved on with a 6-3 6-4 win over Chilean Nicolas Massu as Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand won the eighth match of his past nine outings with a 6-4 6-1 triumph over Czech Bohdan Ulihrach.
Paul-Henri Mathieu of France, who knocked Pete Sampras out of the tournament earlier this week, continued his winning streak with a 2-6 6-3 7-6 victory over Spain’s Alberto Martin.
Results (x denotes seeded player):
Third round: Tommy Haas (Ger x1) bt Augustin Calleri (Arg x16) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Alex Corretja (Spa x5) bt Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3; Younes El Aynaoui (Mar x4) bt Arnaud Clement (Fra) 6-0, 6-2; Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg x7) bt Jan-Michael Gambill (USA) 7-5, 7-6 (7/5); Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) bt Alberto Martin (Spa) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3); Paradorn Srichaphan (Tha) bt Bohdan Ulihrach (Cze) 6-4, 6-1; Mardy Fish (USA) bt Nicolas Massu (Chi) 6-3, 6-4; Flavio Saretta led Jarkko Nieminen (Fin x11) 3-1, (rain stopped play, to resume Friday).—Reuters/AFP
