HANTUCHOVA AND SCHNYDER REACH QUAHANTUCHOVA AND SCHNYDER REACH QUARTER-FINALSRTER-FINALS

Top seeds Daniela Hantuchova and Patty Schnyder advanced to the quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic on Wednesday, but it wasn’t as easy as Daniela would have liked.

The Slovak came through 6-1 7-5, but after controlling the first set with her stinging forehand and fine serving and returns, she was involved in a real battle once 121st-ranked Olga Savchuk got into her rhythm.

Hantuchova faced two break points in the opening game of the second set, saving both with service winners, and two more at 3-3. She saved those as well, one with an excellent forehand winner, but she found her back against the wall when the Ukrainian qualifier finally broke to lead 5-4.

But Hantuchova rose to the challenge, breaking for 5-5 when Savchuk hit a volley long, and after holding for 6-5 she broke once more with a fine crosscourt forehand winner.

It was a welcome victory for Hantuchova, who has struggled since returning from injury with just three wins in her last nine matches before she arrived in Bali.

"Obviously, she picked her game up a little bit in the second set," said Hantuchova. "She was more aggressive on her service games and was tough to break, and in the game she broke me she hit two very good returns.

"After she broke me I just tried to stay in there and break her right back, which I did. I was very pleased with that, and overall I was very pleased with my game, actually. It was a good test for me and I felt like I handled the big points pretty well."

Schnyder’s match also had some drama, although not because of the score. It rained on match point.

The Swiss left-hander was easily the better player as she faced 98th-ranked Meng Yuan of China. Maybe too much the better player, because Schnyder sometimes looked a little too casual after she had built a decent lead and taken the first set 6-2.

In the second set, Yuan’s persistence in the baseline rallies was rewarded when she broke for 2-1, forcing an error with a lob. But Yuan double-faulted to allow Schnyder to level again at 2-2, and Schnyder went on to serve for the match at 5-3.

Yuan, though, broke again and then held for 5-5, before Schnyder also held and then earned two match points on Yuan’s serve. Yuan saved the first, and then it rained as she faced a second. After play resumed, Schnyder finally closed out the match on her third match point, winning 6-2 7-5.

"I still don’t have 100 percent rhythm and it’s really, really tough after such a great US Open to find your intensity aand concentration and get into a tournament again. That’s what I have to improve," said Schnyder.

The other two matches of the day were routine, with fifth seed Francesca Schiavone beating Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3 6-2, and Marta Domachowska outlasting Jill Craybas 6-3 6-7(5-7) 6-4.