Top-seeded Maria Sharapova struggled past Michaella Krajicek here Thursday to become one of four Russians to book quarter-final berths at this 600,000-dollar US Open tune-up. Sharapova, winner of the tier one title in San Diego on Sunday, clawed her way to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 third-round victory over her unseeded Dutch opponent.
After they split the first two sets, Krajicek gained the upper hand with a break to lead 4-3 in the third. Sharapova battled back to break in the next game to put the set back on serve. Sharapova faced a break point again in the next game, but the defending US Open champion rallied to hold.
After fending off two match points, Krajicek finally was broken to close the match, which lasted 2 hours, 48 minutes. Krajicek fell to 0-3 lifetime against Sharapova, who will face compatriot Elena Dementieva in the quarter-finals.
Dementieva, the ninth seed and defending champion advanced Thursday when No 5 Daniela Hantuchova retired in the second set of their third-round match due to an upper-respiratory illness. Dementieva held a commanding 6-3, 4-1 advantage when her Slovakian opponent conceded.
The 25-year-old Russian, who improved to 8-3 against Hantuchova, has yet to lose a set in three matches at this tournament and owns an eight-match winning streak here dating back to last year. While Sharapova leads the all-time series with Dementieva, 6-2, she lost their semi-final meeting here a year ago.
Fourth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova won the day's first match with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Slovakian Katarina Srebotnik. Petrova won 33-of-42 first-serve points and blasted 10 aces en route to her fifth consecutive win against the 26-year-old.
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