Safina and Venus to meet in Stuttgart quarters, Jankovic to be world No 1
BERLIN: World No 3 Dinara Safina of Russia beat Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-1 7-6 in the second round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Thursday to set up a quarterfinal against Venus Williams.
Serb Jelena Jankovic, who will regain the top world ranking on Monday, also made it through to the quarters by beating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-2, 6-0. She will play Russia's Vera Zvonareva for a place in the semis.
Jankovic will replace top Stuttgart seed Serena Williams as world No 1 in the updated rankings after the US Open champion was upset on Wednesday by China's Li Na in three sets.
The powerful Safina, playing her first match at the indoor tournament after receiving a first-round bye, raced through the first set against Pironkova but faced much stiffer resistance from the 21-year-old qualifier in the second.
Venus Williams brushed aside Alona Bondarenko's sister, Kateryna, in her second-round match with the Wimbledon champion and sixth seed serving 12 aces to help her to a 6-4 6-2 win.
"I feel comfortable at this tournament," Williams said in a courtside television interview. "It's already a great result and I would love to improve on it."
Williams and Safina have never played each other before.
Earlier, Safina's compatriot Nadia Petrova beat Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-4 6-1 and will play Li Na of China for a place in the semifinals.
Zvonareva had a comfortable victory over Marion Bartoli of France, winning 6-2 6-0.
Russian world No 4 Elena Dementieva takes on Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in Friday's remaining quarterfinal.
Agencies
(China Daily 10/04/2008 page12)
