Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Proximus Diamond Games--looking ahead to the quarterfinals

Justine Henin, Daniela Hantuchova, Patty Schnyder, and Anna Chakvetadze are headed to various quarterfinal contests at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp. Or are they?

Henin next faces Tsvetana Pironkova, who has done her share of giant-tipping, but who is not at all likely to prevail against the world number 1 and top seed.

Hantuchova, on the other hand, faces Yanina Wickmayer, who has been on somewhat of a roll lately. Wickmayer defeated both Bondarenko sisters in Fed Cup matches, and beat Peng Shuai to get to the second round of the Proximus Games. She is also playing in her home country and will get all of the crowd support.

Schnyder will play Karin Knapp, who has already advanced to the quarterfinals, with her win over Yaroslava Shvedova. Schnyder tends to do very well on indoor surfaces and should prevail against the the up-and-coming Knapp.

As for Open Gaz de France winner and number 2 seed Anna Chakvetadze, she should get by an improving Sofia Arvidsson to land her quarterfinal slot.

Li Na has already secured her quarterfinal place, with a win over Dominika Cibulkova. Others contending for the quarterfinals:

Kateryna Bondarenko v. Alisa Kleybanova
Timea Bacsinszky v. Julie Ditty

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