Zi Yan - Getty Images

Quarter-finals Set to Begin

August 16, 2007 - Friday is quarter-final day at Rexall Centre as only eight women remain in the running for the Rogers Cup presented by American Express crystal racquet.

Five of the top 10 seeds will be in action throughout the day, highlighted by world No. 1 Justine Henin of Belgium, who will face No. 6 seed Nadia Petrova of Russia in the first match of the evening.  Henin has won 10 of their 12 career meetings, including a tight two-tiebreak victory on the hardcourts in Miami earlier this year.  However, Petrova comes into the tournament looking sharp after a finals appearance last week in Los Angeles and will be a tough opponent for the top seed.

Kicking off the day session are No. 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia and twelfth-seed Tatiana Golovin of France.  Their match promises to be close as both women have been dominant so far in this tournament, not dropping a set en route to the quarter-finals.

Following that contest, No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia will look to reach her second straight semifinal with a win over surprise quarterfinalist Virginie Razzano of France.  The match represents the first career meeting between these two women, and while Jankovic appears to be the favourite on paper, Razzano is currently on top of her game and has proven this week that she is capable of beating players ranked higher than her.

Finally, Marion Bartoli of France will take on qualifier Zi Yan of China, who has shocked everyone this week by making it to the round of eight.  While she currently sits 169th in the world rankings, Yan has played brilliant tennis this week to reach her first Tier I quarter-final and is a dangerous adversary for the seventh seed.

Doubles quarter-final action is also on the schedule tomorrow.  Headlining the day are Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of the United States, who the world’s top ranked team and the No. 1 seeds here in Toronto.  They will take on Stephanie Foretz (France) and Selima Sfar (Tunisia) during the night session with the hope of moving one step closer to their seventh doubles title of the season.

Earlier in the day, the second-seeded duo of Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) and Ai Sugiyama (Japan) will face the Chinese tandem of Shuai Peng and Zi Yan.  Srebotnik and Sugiyama are coming off two Grand Slam finals appearances, at the French Open and Wimbledon, and have looked sharp so far at the Rogers Cup.  They will be in tough against the sixth-seeds, who have been playing well despite being a new partnership.

The final match up of the day features No. 4 seeds Nathalie Dechy (France) and Tiantian Sun (China) against the Russian duo of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova, seeded eighth.

One doubles quarter-final took place on Thursday, with No. 3 seeds Alicia Molik (Australia) and Mara Santangelo (Italy) advancing to the semis with a straight-sets victory over Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) and Gisela Dulko (Argentina).

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