Dubai: The second and fourth seeds secured contrasting wins to move into the last eight stages of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday.
Second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova breezed past Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 in under one hour, while fourth seed Jelena Jankovic had to fight her way to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against India's Sania Mirza in the day's early matches at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Kuznetsova was effortless in her approach as she reeled off 10 aces during her 57 minutes on court. The first set was closely contested with Safarova being done in by a double fault in the fifth game as Kuznetsova took control to go 4-1 clear and then won the set in 30 minutes.
"I am pleased with the result and I was enjoying it out there," Kuznetsova said.
The Russian will now face the winner of the match between former world No 1 Amelie Mauresmo and Akiko Morigami in the quarterfinal.
Mirza, on the other hand, started off with a flurry and then limped out to a 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 loss to fourth seed and world No 4 Jankovic.
The Indian caught her opponent off-guard with a break in the very first game and then held serve to go 2-0 up.
But Jankovic waited for her rival to commit some unforced errors to be tied 4-4. But Mirza came up with a break in the ninth and then served out for the set 6-4.
In the second set, Jankovic was on top of her game as she notched breaks in the second and fourth to power herself to a 5-2 lead.
Mirza did hold serve for 5-3, but Jankovic served out the set to force the match into a decisive third set.
Mirza got off to a great start in the third breaking her opponent, thanks to a double fault, to lead 2-0. But Jankovic scrambled her way to break back and then held serve to draw level 2-2.
Mirza had her chance to wrap up things leading 40-0 in the seventh, but made three unforced errors to allow Jankovic back in for 4-4.
"I thought she would walk away with the game the way she was playing. But she made those three crucial mistakes and I was more than happy to take them," Jankovic said.
"She played well and I was struggling with my game, and hence couldn't do anything special.
Mirza said: "It's pretty disappointing to play for two-and-a-half hours and then lose a match that I should have won. I was in it till the end, and it was just a matter of a few points here and there that made the difference between us."
Jankovic will now meet sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze following the Russian's 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3 victory over Dinara Safina.
The evening match between Henin and Katerina 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.
