Saturday, April 7, 2007

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals of the Baush & Lomb Championships on Thursday, beating Meilen Tu 6-2, 7-5.

Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia returns a shot to Dominika Cibulkova during their third-round match at the Bausch & Lomb Championships on Thursday. AP PHOTO

The unseeded Williams, coming off a second-round victory over No. 4 seed Patty Schnyder, will face No. 8 seed Tatiana Golovin in the quarterfinals of the clay-court tournament. Golovin beat No. 12 seed Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-1.

Top seed Nadia Petrova also advanced, beating No. 15 seed Zheng Jie 6-2, 6-3.

Petrova had seven aces, including three straight in the final game -- the last at 188 kph. She narrowly missed making it four in a row, the ball landing just long.

"I was hoping to make it four straight in that game," she said. "My service is a weapon that I can win a lot of points with. When you ace somebody it just feels great."

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) Andy Roddick isn't looking to avoid the Davis Cup, despite a strained hamstring.

U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe made Roddick the No. 1 player Thursday for the quarterfinal match with Spain. Several days of treatment helped Roddick recover.

"It feels all right," Roddick said of his left hamstring. "I'm going to play and I'm excited about it."

He'll face Fernando Verdasco, chosen as Spain's No. 2 player ahead of David Ferrer, in Friday's second singles match. James Blake will face Tommy Robredo in the first match.

We welcome your opinions. Click to send a message to the editor.