17 April 2004	Saturday	26 Safar 1425

NEW YORK, April 16: Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals of the Family Circle Cup Tennis Tournament in Charleston, South Carolina on Thursday with a routine 6-4 6-1 win over Switzerland's Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian.

The fourth-seeded Williams, the highest ranked player left in the tournament after the withdrawal of the top three seeds, wasted little time asserting her authority against the world number 84 to set up a last-eight clash against Vera Zvonereva.

Earlier, Second seed Serena Williams became the latest addition to the casualty list when she was forced to pull out of her match against Spain's Conchita Martinez due to a sore left knee, the same knee she had surgery on in August. It was also a bad day for 2001 champion Jennifer Capriati of the United States after the seventh seed was ousted by Petra Mandula of Hungary 7-6 3-6 7-5.

Third round results:

Conchita Martinez bt Serena Williamswalkover; Jelena Kostanic bt Dally Randriantefy 6-3, 6-1; Petra Mandula bt Jennifer Capriati 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5;Vera Zvonareva bt Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi 6-0, 3-6, 6-3;Lindsay Davenport bt Nicole Pratt 6-1, 6-1; Patty Schnyder bt Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-1; Nadia Petrova bt Alina Jidkova 6-1, 6-1; Venus Williams bt Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian 6-4, 6-1.

Blake, Pavel showdown

NEW YORK: Fourth-seeded James Blake of the United States moved into the quarterfinals of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston on Thursday with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Italian Davide Sanguinetti.

Blake has won nine of his last 12 matches and the world number 40 took control of the match in the second set to advance to a last-eight encounter against Andrei Pavel. The fifth-seeded Romanian battled from a set down to overcome Argentina's Jose Acasuso 4-6 6-3 6-2 earlier in the day.

Second round results: Tommy Haas bt Paul Goldstein 6-4, 6-2; Dmitry Tursunov bt Alex Bogomolov 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; James Blake bt Davide Sanguinetti 7-5, 6-3; Andrei Pavel bt Jose Acasuso 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Safin in third round

LISBON: Marat Safin played through a dizzy spell to beat Frenchman Thierry Ascione 6-4 6-4 in the second round of the Estoril Open on Wednesday. The Russian eighth seed took to the court despite feeling queasy but still managed to overcome Ascione with a polished claycourt display.

Safin will next face fourth seed Tommy Robredo after the Spaniard overwhelmed Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta 6-1 7-6. Rafael Nadal joined his countryman Robredo in the quarterfinals with a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory over Richard Gasquet of France in a battle between two 17-year-olds.

In the women's event, Denise Chladkova and Iveta Benesova, seeded fourth and sixth respectively, made it safely through their second-round matches on Thursday to set up an all-Czech Republic quarterfinal.

Results

Men's second round Rafael Nadal bt Richard Gasquet 6-4 3-6 6-2; Irakli Labadze bt Max Mirnyi 6-3 6-3; Marat Safin bt Thierry Ascione 6-4 6-4; Tommy Robredo bt Mariano Zabaleta 6-1 7-6 (8-6)

Women's second round Denise Chladkova bt Neuza Silva 6-2 6-1; Martina Sucha bt Maria Elena Camerin 6-2 6-4; Stephanie Cohen-Aloro bt Henrieta Nagyova 7-5 7-5; Iveta Benesova bt Flavia Pennetta 1-6 6-3 6-4. - Agencies