Football
Associated Press 17y

Mauresmo defeats Stosur to reach quarterfinals

ZURICH, Switzerland -- Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo,
recovering from a sore shoulder, offset Samantha Stosur's strong
serve Wednesday to win 7-6 (4), 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals of
the Zurich Open.

Fifth-seeded Martina Hingis, playing in a tournament in her home
country for the first time in six years, defeated Nathalie Dechy
6-3, 6-3. Hingis reached the Zurich final in 1996 and '99 and won
in 2000.

A shoulder injury caused Mauresmo to pull out of a tournament in
Stuttgart, Germany, two weeks ago, and she felt pain in a different
part of her right shoulder against Stosur.

"We'll see once I've cooled down what the situation is,"
Mauresmo said.

The Frenchwoman said she would consult with her therapist to see
if she needs medical tests. Mauresmo served five double-faults and
just two aces; Stosur had 11 aces and no double-faults.

"She certainly served up hard," Mauresmo said. "It wasn't
easy breaking her. She gave me a lot of trouble."

This was Mauresmo's second win in four appearances in Zurich.
She won in the first round in 1998 but lost her opening matches in
2003 and 2005.

"It's a relief. Some of my worst memories are from here,"
Mauresmo said.

The Zurich Open is the last big event before the season-ending
WTA Tour Championships in Madrid, Spain, and only the top eight
players in the WTA rankings qualify. The top three seeded players
in Zurich -- Mauresmo, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova --
already have secured their berths.

The ninth-ranked Hingis, who returned to the tour after a
three-year layoff, needs to reach the final to qualify for the WTA
Championships.

"There's not much missing," she said. "I've given some of the
top girls a good round and I'm back in the top 10."

She and Dechy traded breaks early in the first set, but at 3-3
Hingis swept the next eight games to lead 6-3, 5-0. At 5-1 down in
the second set, Dechy saved two match points and broke Hingis for
the first time. Dechy held serve again but Hingis served out the
match and won on her third match point.

"I had a lapse or two at the end when I should have closed it
out. But sooner or later I had to win it," Hingis said. "I knew I
had more in me and could put more force in my shots."

Maria Kirilenko advanced when Tatiana Golovin retired while
leading 4-2 after spraining her right ankle. Golovin was sidelined
nearly four months this season after tearing two ligaments and
bruising a bone in her left ankle in March.

Also, Daniela Hantuchova topped doubles partner Ai Sugiyama 7-6
(7), 6-2.

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