Former runner-up Elena Dementieva beats Chanelle Scheepers to reach quarters at French Open

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Dementieva eases into quarterfinals at French Open

PARIS — Former runner-up Elena Dementieva of Russia cruises into the quarterfinals of the French Open by beating qualifier Chanelle Scheepers 6-1, 6-3.

The fifth-seeded Dementieva committed five double faults in the first set Sunday but took advantage of her opponent’s sluggish start to break her four times.

She broke again in the 6th game of the second set after Scheepers missed two consecutive forehands.

Dementieva, who reached the final in Paris in 2004, will next play either American Venus Williams or Nadia Petrova of Russia.

The 131st-ranked Scheepers was the first South African woman to make it this far at the French Open since Amanda Coetzer in 1997.