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 Alive for five Seles advances at du Maurier Open; Hingis rolls
Posted: Friday August 20, 1999 12:48 AM
TORONTO (AP) -- Monica Seles, seeking a fifth straight du Maurier Open title, beat 15th-seeded Elena Likhovtseva 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 on Thursday to move into the quarterfinals of the $1.05 million event. On a day when form held, the second-seeded Seles was joined in the quarterfinals by top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland, third-seeded Mary Pierce of France and fifth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain. Hingis beat 16th-seeded Chanda Rubin 6-3, 6-1; Pierce beat Anke Huber of Germany 6-2, 7-5; and Sanchez-Vicario beat Conchita Martinez of Spain 7-6 (8-6), 6-1. A foot and forearm injury cut into Seles's practice time leading into the du Maurier and she has started both of her matches slowly. She is testing a stress fracture in her right foot and says she will pull out of the tournament if she feels pain. "Coming off an injury, it's not the easiest time of my life, so I just want to play well and fight," Seles said. "My foot is doing OK. With stress fractures you have to be careful. "I had no problems with it at all today and hopefully it will stay the same way for my next match." In 1995, Seles used the du Maurier to make her comeback after a 27-month layoff following her stabbing by a fan in Germany. "Even when I stop playing tennis, what happened in '95 will stay with me because it's more than just a tennis memory," Seles said. "Winning the last four years in a row, it's very special. I never had that in my career." Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France also advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Japan's Ai Sugiyama. In night matches, No. 6 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa beat Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 and No. 9 Barbara Schett of Austria defeated Jennifer Capriati 6-3, 6-2.
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