LONDON, 10 June 2005 — Champion and top seed Maria Sharapova was given a torrid time before she edged out Samantha Stosur 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the pre-Wimbledon Edgbaston grasscourt tournament yesterday.
In a repeat of last year’s third-round match, the Russian was given her first real test on the surface by the 16th-seeded Australian.
The Wimbledon champion used her greater expertise on the slick surface to romp through the third set having dropped the second.
“She’s a much better player than when I played her last time,” said Sharapova, who extended her head-to-head record to 4-0 against Stosur.
Thai star Tamarine Tanasugarn came from a set down to book her place in the last eight at the expense of French girl Stephanie Foretz.
Tamarine, looking to put the disappointment of her first round exit from the French Open behind her on her favorite surface, dropped the first set but looked comfortable as she eased to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win.
She now faces American Laura Granville for a place in the last four.
Granville, who had already accounted for second seed Alicia Molik of Australia, came through her third round match with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over qualifier and fellow American Jamea Jackson.
Sixth seed Shinobu Asagoe of Japan crashed out after a 6-4, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
Roddick Survives, Ancic and Murray Suffer
In London, Defending champion Andy Roddick was stretched to the limit at the Stella Artois Championships yesterday before securing a quarterfinal place with a 6-2, 3-6 6-4 victory over Slovakian Karol Beck.
Croatian fifth seed Mario Ancic and British teenager Andrew Murray went beyond breaking point, however.
Ancic, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year, was eliminated 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 by gifted French teenager Richard Gasquet in the third round of the pre-Wimbledon grasscourt event.
In the most dramatic match of the day cramp and an ankle injury conspired to deny 18-year-old Murray, ranked 357 in the world, the chance of an heroic victory over Swede Thomas Johansson, the 2002 Australian Open champion.
Playing in only his second senior tournament, Murray was leading 5-4 in the third set when he turned his left ankle and, stricken by cramp in his left thigh, eventually lost a three-hour marathon 7-6, 6-7, 7-5.
Tenth seed Gasquet, who has never progressed beyond the first round at Queen’s, took a significant pre-Wimbledon scalp to show he can translate his impressive claycourt form on to the slicker surface.
The 18-year-old, who reached the Hamburg Masters final last month, edged the first set against Ancic. After a second set lapse Gasquet dominated the decider to set up a quarterfinal against fourth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek who downed Briton Greg Rusedski 6-3, 7-6.
Ancic’s compatriot Ivo Karlovic had no such trouble, slamming down 22 aces as he advanced 6-2, 6-4 against Czech Tomas Zib to set up a quarterfinal with either top seed Lleyton Hewitt or Max Mirnyi of Belarus.
Federer Cruises Into Halle Quarterfinals
World No. 1 Roger Federer cruised into the Halle Open quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Germany’s Florian Mayer yesterday.
The Swiss Wimbledon champion extended his winning streak on grass to 26 matches as he stepped up his bid for a third successive title at the German event.
The top seed was at his imperious best in the first set, breaking local favorite Mayer twice.
But the young German, ATP newcomer of the year in 2004, gave the crowd something to cheer about in the second set when he broke Federer twice.
Also yesterday, fourth seed Guillermo Canas reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia.
Germany’s Alexander Waske was unable to repeat Wednesday’s heroics, when he beat newly-crowned French Open champion Rafael Nadal, losing out to former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
