Mauresmo survives in erratic match over Razzano

Dementieva retires with injury; Petrova, Ivanovic through

FROM THE PROXIMUS DIAMOND GAMES IN ANTWERP – Amelie Mauresmo made her first appearance of the week on Thursday and it wasn't a pretty one as she struggled in a 7-6(6), 7-5 win over her compatriot Virginie Razzano to gain the quarters.

Mauresmo, who won the Tier II event in Belgium the past two years, has not shown the form that brought her two Slam titles in 2006, as she was upset by Lucie Safarova at the Aussie Open and fell to Nadia Petrova in Paris.

The defending champion started off well, breaking serve early on at 2-1 and controlling the match until she attempted to serve out the set at 5-3. Two unforced errors and a double fault put Razzano on triple break point. The qualifier and one-time Martina Hingis conqueror stood by and watched Mauresmo shank a backhand at 15-40, handing Razzano an opportunity to claw her way back into the set.

Razzano took a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak, but Mauresmo won the next four points. She double faulted on her first set point, but luckily for "Momo," Razzano returned the favor on her second set point to end the tiebreak 8-6.

However, Mauresmo continued to press, as she was often late to the ball. She produced a lot of mishits, especially on her backhand side. Razzano took a 4-1 lead in the second set and held game point for 5-2. The No. 85 player missed a forehand putaway and Mauresmo went on to take back the break of serve with a backhand down-the-line winner. At 5-5, the two-time Grand Slam champion claimed the deciding break when Razzano hit a forehand long. Mauresmo clinched the win on her fifth match point for a quarterfinal berth.

"It was a typical first-round match," Mauresmo said. "There are a lot of things I can improve on, but it's a good thing I played well on the important points. I wasn't moving well and this especially affected my backhand."

In Friday's quarterfinal, Mauresmo will take on Dinara Safina and hopes her service won't let her down.

Thursday's day session featured two matches full of Muscovites. Nadia Petrova overcame old rival Vera Zvonareva 7-6(2), 6-4, while Elena Dementieva pulled out with a rib injury after losing the first set against 31-year-old veteran Elena Likhovtseva.

Petrova, who won the Paris title last week, was erratic with her forehand early on and her serve wasn't penetrating. Zvonareva served for the set at 5-4, but there was a dubious moment at 15-15. Zvonareva hit a backhand down the line, which was signaled out by the linesman, but he did not make a call. Petrova, standing with her back to the official, objected to the umpire the ball was out, but was surprised she actually got the point because there was no call or overrule.

Petrova created a double break point and pounced on the first one with a strong cross-court backhand, forcing the '07 Auckland runner-up into an error. Zvonareva went up to the umpire to ask about the score because she didn't know she had lost the point at 15-all.

When the umpire explained what happened, the 22-year-old lost her focus for the next game, but regrouped just in time to hold her own service game at 5-6. Petrova was solid in the tiebreak, took an early mini-break with a strong return and never looked back. She bagged the set with a forehand winner that looked wide, to the dismay of Zvonareva.

Petrova closed out the match when hit an ace and another well-placed service for match point, when Zvonareva dumped a backhand return in the net.

In the late night match, eighth seed Ana Ivanovic eliminated Nathalie Dechy of France 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2 to set up a meeting with Kim Clijsters on Friday.