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Hingis rolls into quarterfinals at Italian
Updated: Thursday May 17, 2001 4:46 PM ROME (AP) -- Following a visit to the ancient Colosseum, Martina Hingis crushed her third-round Italian Open opponent Thursday with all the speed and power of a modern gladiator. The Slovakian-born star stormed back after losing the first three games in the final set for a 6-4, 6-3 win over Russia's Elena Likhovtseva on Foro Italico's center court. "We had long rallies, back-and-forth, back-and-forth. It was very physical," said Hingis, after registering her sixth win in six encounters with Likhovtseva. Other third-round winners Thursday included No. 3 seeded Conchita Martinez, No. 4 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 7 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, No. 14 Jelena Dokic, Paola Suarez, Joannette Kruger and Francesca Schiavone. With a day-off Wednesday, the 20-year-old Hingis took a trip inside the 2,000-year-old sports complex. "I'm used to playing in these big stadiums," said the five-time Grand Slam champion. "But seeing (the Colosseum) on the inside is really impressive...You can imagine the crowd screaming." Hingis, who won the Foro Italico tournament in 1998, said the ancient structure was especially exciting to visit after having seen the movie, Gladiator. "I remember the line from the movie, 'You gotta get the crowd on your side,'" she said with a smile. "It's like that sometimes. Every loss is a death match...Well, maybe not as tragic." Her next duel is against Spain's Sanchez-Vicario in Friday's quarterfinals of the dlrs 1.185 million tournament. The 29-year-old Spaniard made quick work of Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya, winning 6-1, 6-2 in Thursday's third round. Hingis had beaten Sanchez-Vicario in their first 15 meetings, before losing at Amelia Island earlier this year. She rebounded last week to beat the Spanish veteran in the quarterfinals at the German Open. A three-time French Open champion, with 27 career tournament wins, Sanchez-Vicario has never captured an Italian title. Twice she reached the final, losing to Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina in 1989 and fellow Spaniard Martinez in 1995. On Thursday, Martinez glided to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Denisa Chladkova of the Czech Republic. The Spaniard will face Italy's Schiavone, who won 7-5, 6-4 over Russian Nadia Petrova. Mauresmo beat Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals. The 21-year-old Frenchwoman will face Argentina's Suarez, who also won her third-round match, beating Switzerland's Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-4, 6-2. Mauresmo is coming off her fourth title of the year, having beaten Jennifer Capriati last week in Berlin. Mauresmo lost in the final here last year and will try later this month to follow the example of Mary Pierce, who last year was the first Frenchwoman to win the title at Roland Garros since 1967. Dokic, seeded 14th, beat Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis, 6-3, 6-3. It was the first meeting between the pair since Dokic came under fire during last year's Australian Open when she lost her first round match to Kuti Kis and then ungraciously insisted that her opponent "is not a player and never will be a player." Dokic said after the match that both players had "put that behind us." "We're talking to each other, we see each other at tournaments," the 18-year-old said. "She's a very nice girl."
Dokic's quarterfinal opponent will be South Africa's Kruger, who
beat Gala Leon Garcia of Spain 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
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