Last week's Budapest titlist
Agnes Szavay was among Thursday's second-round winners, while second-seeded
Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania pulled out of the draw at the $220,000 Prague
Open tennis event.
The seventh-seeded Szavay handled long-time Czech crowd favorite Iveta
Benesova 6-1, 7-5 on the red clay at Stvanice. The Hungarian Szavay piled up
six service breaks in the 1-hour, 12-minute affair.
Szavay bested Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder in last week's Budapest finale for
the second time in two years.
The 31-year-old Schnyder also won in Prague on Thursday by pasting France's
Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-1.
Dulgheru, meanwhile, pulled out of her scheduled second-rounder against
Slovenian Polona Hercog, citing some sore knees. Top-seeded Czech favorite
Lucie Safarova pulled out of the draw here on Wednesday because of a hamstring
problem.
In other second-round action on Day 4, fifth-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina
Garrigues whipped Colombian qualifier Catalina Castano 6-4, 6-2 and Czech
Lucie Hradecka landed in the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 dismantling of
Romanian Monica Niculescu.
Friday's quarters will pit Medina Garrigues, the highest seed still standing
here, against Hradecka, Szavay versus Hercog, eighth-seeded Czech Barbora
Zahlavova Strycova against Swede Johanna Larsson, and Schnyder versus Georgian
Anna Tatishvili.
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