Dubai: There were no further seeded casualties as the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships rolled towards a climax at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Leading the remaining six seeds was world No 1 Justine Henin with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-3 win over Dubai resident Katerina Srebotnik of Slovenia, while second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova powered her way to an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over Lucie Safarova.
The second day of the competition had seen the discharge of two seeds - No 7 Marion Bartoli going down to Francesca Schiavone after fifth seed Maria Sharapova had withdrawn citing a viral illness.
The top-seeded Henin will now face Francesca Schiavone in today's quarterfinals, while Kuznetsova will take on her good friend and doubles partner Amelie Mauresmo in the lower half of the draw.
Fourth seed Jelena Jank-ovic of Serbia, a semifinalist here in the past, broke many an Indian heart with a tough 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over wild card Sania Mirza, Asia's highest ranked player on the tour.
Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze took her time to settle down before easing her way to a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3 win over fellow Russian Dinara Safina, while eighth seed Elena Dementieva took just 54 minutes before seeing off Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1.
The evening match between Henin and Srebotnik took centre stage with the UAE resident fighting to the very end to go down in three sets 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 in exactly three hours of gripping action.
"This was the kind of match I needed to get back my rhythm and confidence," Henin said.
"That third set was crucial too as I felt much better compared to what I have felt for a long time," she added.
The first set was a close affair with the Slovenian threatening the world's best player and four-time Dubai champion by going for every ball.
Finally, it was Henin's experience that saw her through as the Belgian took the set 7-5 in one hour and eight minutes.
With Srebotnik going for every ball sent down and barely giving the world's top player any chance to dominate her, Henin was pushed on the backfoot until the second set went to the tie-break that Srebotnik ultimately won 8-6 to force the deciding third set.
Results
Singles:
Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Lucie Safarova 6-1, 6-2; Anna Chakvetadze bt Dinara Safina 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3; Jelena Jankovic bt Sania Mirza 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Amelie Mauresmo bt Akiko Morigami 4-6, 6-1,6-4; Elena Dementieva bt Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1; Francesca Schiavone bt Sybille Bammer 6-3, 6-2; Justine Henin bt Katarina Srebotnik 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
Doubles:
Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang bt Tatiana Poutchek/Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 6-3; Liezel Huber/Cara Black bt Shuai Peng/Tiantian Sun 6-3, 6-3; Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs bt Maria Kirilenko/Agnes Szavay 6-2, 6-3; Nadia Petrova/Elena Vesnina bt Janette Husarova/Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-2; Cara Black/Liezel Huber bt Sania Mirza/Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-7 (4), 12-10.
Order of Play (quarterfinals):
Centre Court:
Start at 2 pm: Amelie Mauresmo vs Svetlana Kuznetsova; Anna Chakvetadze vs Jelena Jankovic; (7 pm) Justine Henin vs Francesca Schiavone; Ana Ivanovic or Nicole Vaidisova vs Elena Dementieva.
Court No. 3:
Start at 3 pm: Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang vs Vladimira Uhlirova/Galina Voskoboeva; Zi Yan/Jie Zheng vs Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs; Nadia Petrova/Elena Vesnina vs Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama.
