Tennis

Zheng Jie rallies into quarters

(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-28 09:10

Off to the best start of his career, Blake improved to 21-5 this year. The American cracked the top 10 in the rankings for the first time last week and needs one more win to earn his first Key Biscayne quarterfinal berth.

Unseeded Dmitry Tursunov, who was born in Russia and lives in California, reached the fourth round at an ATP Masters Series event for the first time by defeating No. 24 Igor Andreev of Russia, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

Greul, a 24-year-old German ranked 130th, came into the tournament with one career ATP victory. Battling nerves in the day's opening match on stadium court, he lost the first seven games.

"At the beginning I said, 'Stay calm and play my game and focus on each point,"' Greul said. "It didn't work that well in the first set."

But Greul settled down and broke Henman's serve five times in the final two sets, including the last game. The upset came after the unseeded Henman beat former world No. 1 Marat Safin and No. 13-seeded Lleyton Hewitt in the first two rounds.

Greul's comeback left Henman shaking his head after the match.

"No doubt the most bizarre I've ever played. I'm shocked, really," Henman said. "His level went from nonexistent to playing some pretty good stuff in the space of a game."

Greul neutralized Henman's serve-and-volley tactics, coming forward himself and winning 19 of 25 points at the net.

"I wanted to keep the pressure on him," Greul said. "If he's putting the pressure on me coming to the net, it's difficult for me. So I tried to come to the net, force him to make some mistakes, and it worked. Normally I'm a baseliner, but I'm trying to go to the net more often."

Kuznetsova received a walkover when No. 7-seeded Patty Schnyder withdrew before their fourth-round match. Schnyder was unable to play because of an ankle injury sustained during her third-round victory, but said she expects to be sidelined only a few days.

Sugiyama beat No. 32 Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2, and Zheng won 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 over Jill Craybas, the last American in the women's draw.