Hingis advances at Rogers Cup

MONTREAL (AP) _ Martina Hingis beat Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup on Thursday night. <br/><br/>The former top-ranked player will face fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova,

Friday, August 18th 2006, 8:52 am

By: News On 6

MONTREAL (AP) _ Martina Hingis beat Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup on Thursday night.

The former top-ranked player will face fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-2, 7-6 (6).

The seventh-seeded Hingis fought back from 0-40 to break Hantuchova's serve for a 6-5 lead and needed four set points to win the first set.

Hingis, who won the tournament in 1999 and 2000, returned to the WTA Tour this season after three years of nursing foot and ankle injuries and looks to be returning to form.

Katarina Srebotnik defeated Stephanie Dubois 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.

Qualifier Nicole Pratt advanced on a walkover when Nicole Vaidisova withdrew because of a strained right shoulder. Ana Ivanovic advanced when Jelena Jankovic withdrew with an undisclosed injury.

Dubois, ranked 153rd, got the win Wednesday over top-seeded Kim Clijsters when the Belgian was forced to retire in the second set with a left wrist injury. She was never in the game against Srebotnik, the 20th-ranked player who also reached the quarterfinals in the 2003 Rogers Cup.

Ninth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia downed American qualifier Shenay Perry 7-5, 6-3 and will play Pratt in the quarterfinals. Anna Chakvetadze defeated Nathalie Dechy of France 6-1, 6-4.