PARIS, Feb 11: Former champion Amelie Mauresmo, the second seed, ousted fellow Frenchwoman Mary Pierce to advance to the quarterfinals of the 585,000-dollar Paris Indoor Open here on Thursday.
But Nathalie Dechy became the highest-ranked casualty of the tournament when the number five seed fell in straight sets in another all-French clash with un seeded Marion Bartoli.
Mauresmo, the 2001 champion, won 6-4, 6-3 in a tight second round match against Pierce, the 1998 winner and last year's finalist, after 1hr 24min on court in the Pierre de Coubertin stadium.
And 37th-ranked Bartoli came away 6-4, 6-2 winner in 1hr 26min against Dechy, who has reached a career high world number 13 after her first Grand Slam semi-final in the Australian Open last month.
Mauresmo, who missed last year's event through injury and received a first round bye, advances to meet Bulgarian eighth seed Magdalena Maleeva, 29, who was a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Serbian Jelena Jankovic.
In a tough first set the French number one made the crucial break in the tenth game when Pierce's previously impressive form dropped a level. Taking advantage, Mauresmo wrapped up the first set in 40 minutes, and was leading 3-1 in the second before 30-year-old Pierce looked set to rally when she broke 3-2 and held serve to level 3-3. But Mauresmo, 25, dug deep, serving to love, and despite two-time Grand Slam winner Pierce staving off two break points a double fault on a third handed Mauresmo a 5-3 advantage, and she served out for the match and her third win in five meetings with her countrywoman.
Second round results: Amelie Mauresmo bt Mary Pierce 6-4, 6-3; Marion Bartoli bt Nathalie Dechy 6-4, 6-2; Magdalena Maleeva bt Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-0; Tatiana Golovin bt Sanda Mamic 6-3, 6-4.
GAUDIO IN QUARTERFINALS
BUENOS AIRES: Second seed Gaston Gaudio reached the quarterfinals of the Buenos Aires Open with an easy win over Brazil's Flavio Saretta on Friday. Gaudio, who complained repeatedly about the incessant drizzle, won 6-3 6-2 in a match that ended in the early hours of Friday after rain played havoc with Thursday's programme.
Nadal overcame Italy's Potito Starace 6-1 6-3 earlier on Thursday.
SECOND ROUND RESULTS: Rafael Nadal bt Potito Starace 6-1, 6-3; Jose Acasuso bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-3; Nicolas Almagro bt Mariano Zabaleta 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4; Gaston Gaudio bt Flavio Saretta 6-3, 6-2.
NALBANDIAN BEATEN
MARSEILLE: Second seed David Nalbandian crashed out of the Marseille Open on Thursday, losing in the second round to American Taylor Dent. The Argentine held his opponent at bay for a set before going down 7-6 6-2 to follow top seed and compatriot Guillermo Coria, beaten in the previous round, out early.
SECOND ROUND RESULTS: Taylor Dent bt David Nalbandian 7-6 (7-3) 6-2; Joachim Johansson bt Gilles Simon 7-6 (7-3) 6-3; Karol Beck bt Arnaud Clement 6-4 6-4; Ivan Ljubicic bt Igor Andreev 6-3 6-4; Feliciano Lopez bt Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (8-6) 6-4; Mario Ancic bt Tomas Berdych 7-5 7-6 (7-4); Sebastien De Chaunac bt Greg Rusedski, walkover.
AGASSI, RODDICK MARCH ON
SAN JOSE: Andre Agassi, seeking his sixth San Jose title, overcame an early barrage before finding his game en route to a 7-5, 6-1 win over Kenneth Carlsen at the 380,000 dollar ATP tournament.
SECOND ROUND RESULTS: Andy Roddick bt Hyung-Taik Lee 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Andre Agassi bt Kenneth Carlsen 7-5, 6-1; Jurgen Melzer bt Xavier Malisse 6-3, 6-3; Max Mirnyi bt Kevin Kim 6-1, 7-5; Cyril Saulnier bt Tomas Zib 6-1, 7-6 (7/3); Thomas Enqvist bt Robby Ginepri 6-3, 7-6 (7/1).
SANIA IN FINAL
HYDERABAD: Un seeded Indian teenager Sania Mirza beat eighth seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) on Friday to make her maiden WTA final in the Hyderabad Open here.
Mirza out stroked last year's runner-up Kirilenko to set up a title clash with Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine, who had a walk-over from second-seeded German Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Groenefeld conceded the match because of a knee-strain suffered earlier in the tournament.
RESULTS:
SEMIFINALS: Sania Mirza bt Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 7-6 (7/4); Alyona Bondarenko w/o Anna Lena Groenefeld. -Agencies
