|
INDIAN WELLS, California: British No. 1 Andy Murray
outgunned Nikolay Davydenko while Chinese Li Na and Slovak Daniela
Hantuchova booked a semifinal clash with hard-fought wins at the
ATP/WTA Pacific Life Open.
The 13th-seeded Murray stepped up
his bid for his third career title with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win over
Russian fourth seed Davydenko on Wednesday to reach the
quarterfinals at the US$5.3-million hardcourt tournament.
The 19-year-old Murray, who was
the last man to beat Roger Federer before Guillermo Canas knocked
the three-time defending champ out on Sunday, fired 10 aces,
including the final point in the match.
Murray is off to a career best
18-3 start and moves into his first quarterfinals here where he will
face German ninth seed Tommy Haas, who overpowered Spanish fifth
seed Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3, 6-2.
Haas avenged a loss to the
Chilean in their last meeting, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1, in the semifinals of
this year’s Australian Open.
Chinese dynamo Li, seeded 12th,
fought back from a 5-1 deficit in the second set to earn the first
semifinal spot with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Russian 15th seed Vera
Zvonareva, who had knocked out defending champ Maria Sharapova the
day before.
Last year was a breakthrough
season not only for Li but Chinese tennis, as Li became the first
from her country to reach a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal at
Wim-bledon. Her best previous result at Indian Wells was a fourth
round in 2006.
The 14th-seeded Hantuc-hova, on
the other hand, had to overcome 61 unforced errors to beat No. 11
Sharar Peer of Israel, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), in a two-hour, 53-minute
match in the main stadium.
|
