PPO Tennis: Sharapova, Hingis on collision course
(Staff)
Updated: 2006-02-03 10:07

Top seed Maria Sharapova and comeback kid Martina Hingis both advanced to the quarterfinals Thursday at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

With five Toray titles between them--four for Hingis and one for defending champion Sharapova--a mouth-watering semifinal featuring the two former world No. 1s is now a distinct possibility.

Martina Hingis (L) of Switzerland smiles with Maria Sharapova of Russia during a news conference for the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo January 30, 2006. [Reuters]

Russia's Sharapova rolled to a 6-4, 6-4 second-round win over unseeded American Lisa Raymond on the carpet at Tokyo's Metropolitan Gymnasium, while Swiss ace Hingis had a tougher time of it, ousting third-seeded Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Next up for Sharapova is unseeded Australian Samantha Stosur, a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 winner Thursday over lanky sixth seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia. Hingis will face Maria Kirilenko in today's quarterfinals after the unseeded Russian knocked her doubles partner, No. 8 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Montenegro, out of the singles competition, 6-4, 6-4.

Sharapova, who received a first-round bye, said it took her a while to get accustomed to the court surface. She lost her opening service game and fell behind 4-2 in the first set before winning the last four games.

"(Raymond) had already played four matches and she had gotten used to the court," Sharapova told reporters after the match. "I was able to break (her serve) when I needed to. When I had the opportunity to win, I did.

"The court is very sticky moving-wise and a little hard to get used to on the first day, but I like fast surfaces so it got better as the match went on."

Hingis acknowledged that she got off to a shaky start against Dechy, but as the match wore on she started to find her groove. In the third set, she broke Dechy's serve in the second game and broke her again in the eighth game to seal the victory.

"I was a little nervous going into (Thursday's) match," said Hingis, who recently returned to pro tennis after ankle injuries forced her to take a three-year sabbatical. "I hadn't played (Dechy) in a while and she pushed me right away, but I adjusted to the way she was returning and I started reading her returns a little better Thank God I still have those skills, that was my saving grace."

In other second-round matches Thursday, seventh-seeded Elena Likhovtseva of Russia eliminated unseeded Italian Marion Bartoli in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, and former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina of Russia, seeded fourth here, advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over unseeded Czech Klara Koukalova.

The winner of the WTA-sanctioned tournament on Sunday will pocket $196,900 (23.3 million yen).

In doubles play Thursday, Ai Sugiyama and partner Hantuchova were ousted by Nicole Pratt and Mara Santangelo 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Sugiyama had earlier lost her first-round match in the singles draw.