RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Top seed Monica Seles was made to work hard for her 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 victory over Slovakian Janette Husarova in the second round of the WTA Brazilian Open on Wednesday.
The American raced into a 5-1 lead but Husarova broke serve in the seventh game and that seemed to put Seles on the defensive as she went on to drop the second set.
But, after taking a 10-minute rest from the fierce Costa do Suaipe sun, Seles cruised through the decider without losing a game.
Seles will now face Tatiana Panova in the quarter-finals after the Russian brushed aside Brazilian Joana Cortez 6-1 6-4.
Second-seeded Yugoslav Jelena Dokic eliminated Croatia’s Iva Majoli 6-1, 6-2 in a game notable for a 20-minute interruption caused by a passing swarm of bees.
In the men’s event, Brazilian wild card Flavio Saretta followed up his first-round win over world number one Gustavo Kuerten by beating Germany’s Markus Hantschk 6-4, 6-1.
“I was starting to feel a little tired as early as the first set. My head is fine, but I need to rest,” said Saretta who now meets Czech Jan Vacek in the quarter-finals.
Second-seeded Argentine Guillermo Canas beat Britain’s Martin Lee 6-2, 6-2 and now faces compatriot Agustin Calleri in the last eight.