Sixth seed Sania Mirza advanced to the quarterfinals of the $170,000 Moorilla Hobart International with a straight-set victory over Russian Alla Kudryavtseva here on Tuesday.
Sania beat Kudryavtseva 6-3, 6-4 to enter the last-eight stage of the Tier IV hardcourt event.
The Indian will now be up against Italian Flavia Pennetta. Pennetta advanced after Australian qualifier Jelena Dokic pulled out midway through the first set of their second-round match today.
Pennetta led 5-0 when Dokic retired from the match.
Ivanovic wins
A gruelling off-season training regime in Australia paid off for Ana Ivanovic when she fought back from the brink of defeat to beat France’s Virginie Razzano 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 at the Sydney International on Tuesday, adds Reuters.
The Serb looked to be heading for an early exit from the Australian Open warm-up event when she trailed 5-2 in the deciding set before reeling off five games to join Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik in the quarterfinals.
Ivanovic, ranked fourth in the world, said she had trained harder than ever over the summer and her confidence was soaring ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year.
“This match today gives me some confidence because I am coming into the new season looking for some tough matches and to get through them,” she told a news conference.  “There are many opponents and players who want exactly the same thing, but I think I have a game that can get me to win a Grand Slam.”
Ivanovic is on course for a semifinal meeting with Justine Henin after the world No 1 strolled into the quarters without hitting a ball when her opponent, Czech Lucie Safarova, withdrew with a buttock strain.
Russia’s US Open finalist, second-seed Svetlana Kusnetsova, also eased into the next round with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Israel’s Shahar Peer. Third-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic showed no ill-effects from the leg injury that forced her to forfeit her singles match in last week’s Hopman Cup final as she dispatched France’s Tatiana Golovin 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
While the women’s matches mostly went according to the rankings at Sydney’s Olympic Tennis Centre on Tuesday, there was an early upset in the men’s draw when Spanish second seed Tommy Robredo was beaten by Czech Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-2.  Carlos Moya kept the Spanish flag flying with his 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Austrian Stefan Koubek to stay on course for a possible semifinal with Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, who is chasing a record fifth title in Sydney.  Hewitt beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 6-4 to set up a second round meeting with his Davis Cup team-mate Chris Guccione.
Massu through
Chile's double Olympic champion Nicolas Massu advanced to the second round of the Auckland Open with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over New Zealand qualifier GD Jones as persistent rain prevented much of Tuesday's play, adds Reuters.
Seventh-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber also managed to avoid the wet weather and converted all five break points he created to beat Michael Russell of the US 7-5, 6-2 while Argentine Sergio Roitman beat Czech Lukas Rosol 6-2, 7-5.