NEW HAVEN (Connecticut), Aug 21: Jennifer Capriati fought off a gallant challenge from Russia’s Elena Bovina to reach the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen Classic on Wednesday.

While the American’s 4-6 7-5 6-4 victory took two hours 11-minutes to complete, Daniela Hantuchova spent a lot less time on court as her dismal year continued when she was bounced out by Zimbabwean qualifier Cara Black.

The fourth seeded Slovak was beaten 6-3 6-2 to join sixth seed Magdalena Maleeva on the second-round casualty list after the Bulgarian was outplayed 7-6 6-3 by Magui Serna of Spain.

Seventh seed Conchita Martinez of Spain was another ranked player to bow out, going down 4-6 6-2 6-0 to Russia’s Elena Dementieva.

However, there were victories for second seed Amelie Mauresmo of France, who overcame Switzerland’s Myriam Casanova 7-5 6-4, and eighth seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan, who beat Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine 6-4 7-6.

Capriati’s match featured tennis of the highest quality as Bovina came out firing on all cylinders and put the third seed under pressure with her fierce groundstokes and willingness to come to the net at every opportunity.

Her adventurous approach had Capriati struggling and the American was forced to dig deep to stay in contention.

Although Capriati recovered an early break when the Russian served at 5-3, Bovina broke for a second time to take the opening set.

In the second set, Capriati forced a backhand error to lead 5-4 and although she failed to serve out, a second break to love allowed her to serve again to level the match.

That seemed to deflate her disappointed opponent and Bovina appeared tired in the final set, making a succession of errors as Capriati continued to pound her groundstrokes.

Despite being seven years older than her 20-year old opponent, the American looked the fitter of the two in the final stages and set up match point with a magnificent pass down the line.

Hantuchova has failed to win more than one match at any of the last eight events she has played, stretching back to the Italian Open in May.

Against Black, she showed no consistency and little aggression, and after building a 3-1 lead she offered little threat to her petite but feisty opponent.

Mauresmo had to dig deep to shake off Casanova, who challenged well from the baseline as well catching the Frenchwoman with several well-timed dropshots.

But her comparative inexperience cost her dearly when she put a hasty forehand volley into the net instead of waiting for the ball to bounce, giving Mauresmo a break for 6-5.

In the second set, Mauresmo broke twice to lead 3-0 and, although Casanova levelled at 3-3, the second seed broke to lead 4-3 and held on to her advantage to take the match.

Results (x denotes seeded player):

Second round: Ai Suigyama (JPN x8) bt Tatiana Perebiynis (UKR) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5); Amelie Mauresmo (FRA x2) bt Myriam Casanova (SWI) 7-5, 6-4; Magui Serna (SPA) bt Magdalena Maleeva (BUL x6) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3; Cara Black (ZIM) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x4) 6-3, 6-2; Jennifer Capriati (USA x3) bt Elena Bovina (RUS) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4; Elena Dementieva (RUS) bt Conchita Martinez (SPA x7) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0

KUERTEN IN LAST EIGHT