MEMPHIS — Men’s top seed Andy Roddick
blasted past fellow American Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-2 Thursday to
book a place in the last eight of the Memphis Championship.
Roddick unleashed 14 aces to cruise to
victory in just over an hour and book a quarterfinal meeting
with eighth-seeded Swede Robin Soederling, who crushed Victor
Hanescu of Romania 6-2, 6-1.
Big-serving Australian Chris Guccione fired
down 15 aces to upset sixth seed Thomas Johansson of Sweden
6-3, 6-4 while veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman beat fifth-seeded
American Sam Querrey 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.
Guccione will meet fourth-seeded Czech
Radek Stepanek in the last eight where Bjorkman faces American
Donald Young, a 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 winner over Colombian Alejandro
Falla.
Women’s fourth seed Lindsay Davenport,
playing her first WTA event on US soil in two years, swept
aside Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki 6-0, 6-2 in the
quarterfinals.
The 31-year-old American broke her
17-year-old opponent, the sixth seed, three times in the first
set before sealing victory in 53 minutes.
"I know she’s a good, up-and-coming player
so it was important for me to try and get off to a good start,
which I was able to do," former world No. 1 Davenport said.
"I felt like on this court I might be able
to overpower her, and I was successful in doing that tonight
and I managed to keep the momentum going the whole way
through.
"I am very motivated here at this
tournament, the first one I have played in the US since the
summer of ’06. It’s exciting for me and I am hoping to do well
and get to the finals."
Davenport, who returned to the court last
September after an 11-month absence to have a baby, will meet
New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic in the last four.
Qualifier Erakovic earlier came from behind
to beat Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
In the other women’s quar-terfinals, third
seed Shahar Peer of Israel battled past seventh-seeded Swede
Sofia Arvidsson 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 and fifth seed Olga Govortsova
of Belarus beat German Julia Goerges 7-6, 6-2.
"It was really, really tough," Peer said
after ousting the 2006 champion in a match that lasted almost
two hours. "We both played very well.
"I changed my tactics a little bit from the first set and
tried to be very aggressive and close out the match. It
worked."
