Former runner-up Elena Dementieva, Francesca Schiavone reach quarterfinals at French Open

more images

more images

Dementieva, Schiavone reach quarters at French

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

The fifth-seeded Dementieva committed five double faults in the first set 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.

Francesca Schiavone of Italy also advanced and matched her best performance in a Grand Slam tournament, nine years after reaching the quarterfinals for the first time at the French Open.

The 17th-seeded Schiavone defeated No. 30 Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-4, 6-4. She made the decisive break in the 10th game of the second set and sealed her victory with a backhand winner.

Schiavone also reached the quarterfinal stage at the 2003 U.S. Open and Wimbledon last year.