Dementieva storms into Paris Open quarters

Paris: Russian top seed Elena Dementieva beat compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the WTA Paris Indoor Open.

Dementieva, a second-round casualty at the Australian Open, took the first set 6-4 and was 4-1 up in the second set before Pavlyuchenkova staged a mini-revival, only for the world number seven to eventually prevail 6-4, 6-4. "It wasn`t an easy match to play," said Dementieva, who lost in last year`s final to home favourite, the now retired Amelie Mauresmo. "Anastasia had an opportunity to play on this court already and she was playing with a lot of confidence.” "I don`t think I played 100 percent and I was up and down in the match, but in the end it was good to win in two sets. Now I`ll focus on my quarter-final match." Dementieva, who received a bye in the first two rounds, was joined in the last eight by Italian second seed Flavia Pennetta, who beat Russia`s Alisa Kleybanova 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.Tathiana Garbin followed her compatriot Pennetta into the quarter-finals after downing Russian number eight seed Elena Vesnina in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Croatian wild card Petra Martic earlier sprung a surprise by ousting third seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgian after winning their first-round encounter 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. "I feel great," said 19-year-old Martic. "She was a big favorite, so I didn`t have expectations, but I just played and enjoyed every point, and I made it." Wickmayer was left to lament a heavy schedule that saw her feature in Belgium`s 3-2 Fed Cup World Group II victory in Poland last weekend. "I was super, super tired today. I had a very hard weekend, playing in Fed Cup, so it was very hard for me," said the world number 15."She played a very good match. I tried everything I could but my legs weren`t there. She was just too good. That`s how it is, that`s tennis. You win some, you lose some, and today I lost." Martic faces Hungary`s Agnes Szavay in round two, while French fifth seed Aravane Rezai will play Germany`s Andrea Petkovic following a 6-4, 6-4 win against qualifier Evgeniya Rodina of Russia. Bureau Report