Clijsters cruises into quarters with straight-set win over Sugiyama
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-07-29 16:40

Former world number one Kim Clijsters crushed Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday to book a quarter-final berth at the Stanford Classic.

Playing her first match since losing to Davenport in the last eight at Wimbledon, Clijsters ran Sugiyama from side-to-side with pinpoint accuracy until her 30-year-old opponent wilted through exhaustion.

Clijsters, who won the titles here in 2001 and 2003, will face 26th-ranked Daniela Hantuchova in the quarter-finals after the Slovakian served four aces to close out her match against Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

The defending champion and top seed Davenport struggled to move around the court early on Thursday before a lower back strain forced her out of the tournament.

She was trailing 5-0 in the first set against Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who now plays Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy in the quarters.

In the day's other match, Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic outlasted eighth seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.

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