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Upset Pierce falls at Pan Pacific Open
Posted: Thursday February 03, 2000 02:01 PM
TOKYO (AP) -- Lilia Osterloh defeated second-seeded Mary Pierce of France 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4 Thursday, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open. The 21-year-old Osterloh, of Canal Winchester, Ohio, was a third-round loser in the qualifying series Monday but was chosen a replacement for second-ranked Lindsay Davenport, who withdrew because of an injured left hamstring. The 87th-ranked Osterloh will next face No. 65 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia. Srebotnik beat qualifier Irina Selyutina of Kazakstan 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Osterloh won the match's first three games. She then lost two straight and held a 4-2 lead before the fifth-ranked Pierce came back with some sharp shots to win three straight games and went on to force a tiebreaker. In the second and third sets, Osterloh kept attacking Pierce's forehand corner. "After the first set, I was kind of had a letdown and got a little nervous," Osterloh said. "But I just tried to relax, started moving faster and going in for my shots, and it worked well. "I knew Mary's forehand can sometimes go long or wide but it's also her strength, and I liked to use my forehand, too, and her backhand's really destructive. I was just trying to make her run and hit behind her. It was a great match, and I think I just played better than she did." In their only previous match, in the Lipton championship last year, Pierce beat Osterloh 6-1, 6-1. "I don't think I served really well today," Pierce said. "I just didn't play very smart." Pierce said she now would focus on the doubles she's playing here with Martina Hingis. "I really enjoy playing with her. And I have a lot of fun playing the doubles," Pierce said. Later in the day, Hingis and Pierce teamed up to beat Tina Krizan of Slovenia and Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France 6-4, 6-3, advancing to the semifinals. Hingis, the defending champion, will play fifth-seeded Anna Kournikova on Friday. Kournikova advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Australian Nicole Pratt. Alexandra Stevenson, the first women to make the Wimbledon semifinals as a qualifier last summer, made a second-round exit with a 6-4, 6-1 loss to compatriot Chanda Rubin. "I feel like I played a solid match," said Rubin. "My objective going out there was to get on to her serve as well as I could and to play solid on my service games until I got the opportunity on the return games."
No. 4 seed Amanda Coetzer of South Africa also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 victory over Natasha Zvereva of Belarus.
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