BEIJING, 14 September 2006 — Third seed Marcos Baghdatis survived a second tough test in less than 24 hours to progress to the quarterfinals of the China Open yesterday with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Taiwan’s Wang Yeu-Tzuoo.

The Cypriot needed a third-set tiebreak to overcome German Denis Gremelmayr late on Tuesday and was equally tested by Wang, who was cheered on by a crowd delighted to see a Chinese man competing with one of the world’s top players.

Wang never gave an inch without a fight and exploited the world No. 9’s lapses of concentration to force a tiebreak in the first set and break Baghdatis early in the second.

Baghdatis, however, drew on the competitive spirit he so amply displayed in a five-set defeat to Andre Agassi at the US Open two weeks ago to break back and then break the stubborn Wang’s service again.

He finally secured the victory with a crosscourt winner after an hour and 39 minutes and will next face Thai Danai Udomchoke, who progressed when Croatia’s seventh seed Ivo Karlovic retired while 6-2 3-1 down.

“It was a great match, Jimmy Wang played very well,” said 21-year-old Baghdatis, who admitted he had been feeling the effects of the late night on Tuesday.

“I was pretty tired but I served pretty well and played smart to conserve energy. That was my goal for today and I went through.” Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty was the first seed to reach the quarterfinals of the $500,000 tournament when he overcame a second-set implosion to beat Austrian Alexander Peya 6-1, 2-6, 6-0.

“It was a strange game. In the first set he made a lot of mistakes, in the second set I made the mistakes and he served better which gave him more confidence,” said the fifth seed, who next faces Croatian fourth seed Mario Ancic, a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Italy’s Stefano Galvani.

Nikolay Davydenko played through jet lag to claim the last place in the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Dane Kenneth Carlsen in a match held over from Tuesday to allow the Russian more time to rest.

Just four days after losing to Roger Federer in the US Open semi-finals, the second seed cruised through the encounter to set up a last-16 clash with Slovenian qualifier Luka Gregorc.

The world No. 5’s accuracy gave Carlsen nothing to play with in the first set and when the journeyman Dane did break early in the second, the Russian merely changed his racket and broke back. Facing three break points in the next game, Davydenko battled back to deuce before slamming the door in his 33-year-old opponent’s face with a couple of aces.

Kuznetsova Conquers Fear of the

Unknown With Bali Opening Win

In Musa Dua, Indonesia, two-time champion Svetlana Kuznetsova ventured into the unknown Wednesday against an opponent she had never faced, emerging relieved with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at the Wismilak International.

The top seed and winner of the event in 2002 and 2004 improved her tournament career record here to 10-0 as she defeated teenager Erika Takao of Japan.

The Russian 2004 US Open champion said after the game that she had found it difficult at first against Takau, a squat and powerful player ranked 152 in the world.

“She’s a good player and it was tough for me to adjust at the start to her game,” said Kuznetsova.

The Russian expressed her dislike at playing an unknown player, saying, “I prefer at least to know their faces.

“I could have won 6-0, 6-0 if I’d played my game sooner. I’m confident after this win - but it could have been easier,” she added.

Kuznetsova got through her early discomfort thanks to her serve, which produced eight aces. Takao, 18, and playing in only her second WTA-level tournament of the season, slumped to six double-faults.

Kuznetsova was one of only two seeds in action on Wednesday. No. 6 seed Marion Bartoli of France also advanced into the quarterfinals, defeating Australian Casey Dellacqua 6-1, 6-3.

In other results at this beachside resort venue, Hungarian Melinda Czink eliminated former champion Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 and Czech Hana Sromova beat Japan’s Aiko Nakamura 6-3, 7-5.

In today’s play, Swiss second seed Patty Schnyder, given a first-round bye like Kuznetsova, plays her second round match against Elise Tamaela of the Netherlands who defeated Venezuela’s Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-2, 6-0.

Third-seeded defending champion Lindsay Davenport continues her title defense as she plays Akiko Morigami of Japan.