Russian wild-card entry Lina Krasnoroutskaya shocked top seed and defending champion Monica Seles 7-5 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open on Wednesday.
The world number 96 made the good use of her powerful serve and forehand to overcome the ninth-ranked American in their second round encounter.
The 18-year-old Russian played some terrific shots and avenged her loss to Seles at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo earlier this month.
“I’m quite happy with the way I played and it is one of the most memorable wins in my career. I have been able to hit the ball hard and my serve also held good,” the Russian said.
For Seles, it was a bad day at the office but she gave her opponent credit for the win.
“It just wasn’t my day. I had problems with my serve and groundstrokes… Lina played very well and she kept me under pressure,” she said.
Joining Krasnoroutskaya in the last eight were second seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia, Bulgarian third seed Magdalena Maleeva and Dinara Safina of Russia who all registered straight-set victories.
Myskina, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open last month and world ranked number 11 defeated Frenchwoman Mary Pierce 7-5 6-4.
Maleeva wasted little time in her match, easing past Slovakia’s Martina Sucha 6-4 6-2 in 80 minutes while Safina beat compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 6-3.
IMPRESSIVE MALEEVA
The Bulgarian played an almost flawless game, often using her powerful backhand shots to reel off winners.
She broke Sucha in the second, fourth, eighth and tenth games to win the first set with a good measure of comfort.
Sucha played well in patches, breaking Maleeva in the fifth and seventh games, but she lacked the consistency to put pressure on her opponent.
Games went with serves in the second set until Maleeva, leading 3-2, moved up a gear and broke Sucha in the sixth and eighth games to wrap up the set and the match.
Maleeva said that although she had won her two previous meetings with Sucha, she never underestimated her opponent.
“I was determined to play well from the start and did well on the big points,” Maleeva said.
The Bulgarian now awaits the winner of the match between Russia’s Elena Likhovtseva and Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan.
“Whether it’s Elena or Iroda, I’ll have to play well… it’s going to be a tough match,” she added.
Pierce was undone by Myskina’s powerful passing shots and intelligent use of angles.
However, the Frenchwoman did show some of the form that once elevated her into the world’s Top 10 when she battled back to 5-5 after trailing 1-4 in the opening set.
Myskina then produced some superb shots to take the set in great style, with a double-handed backhand down the line.
The Frenchwoman matched Myskina shot-for-shot in the second set until the score reached 4-4, even saving a breakpoint with a blistering volley in the third game.
But Myskina picked up the pace when it mattered, breaking Pierce in the ninth game and holding her on serve to seal the victory.