Kirilenko In, Srebotnik Out in Portoroz Second Round

Three Russians made it into the quarterfinals while Slovenian hopeful Katarina Srebotnik was defeated in another exciting day at the Banka Koper Slovenia Open.
 
No.1 seed Maria Kirilenko moved into to the quarterfinals by beating Roberta Vinci, 61 62. Despite being the tournament’s favorite to win, Russia's Kirilenko was sure to have early reservations about the match since the two players were tied 1-1 in their head-to-head going in.
 
"The first set went smoothly but then I lost my concentration in the second set and she won a few games in a row," Kirilenko said. "I was afraid I might lose track but fortunately I came back and saved the match."
 
No.2 seed Srebotnik's hopes of a home win were dashed after Julia Goerges beat her, 64 62. The German already had a 1-0 head-to-head lead over Srebotnik after beating her in the first round of Wimbledon this year. Despite making some unforced errors in the first set Goerges played aggressively, which was too much for the No.2 seed and she now faces 17-year-old Petra Martic in the quarterfinals.
 
"I am so happy to have won this match," Goerges said. "Katarina is a great player and it's always very difficult winning against such a player, especially before her fans."
 
Meanwhile, No.8 seed Sara Errani had a good match against fellow Italian Mara Santangelo, beating her 62 64. So far this tournament Errani has played two of her Italian teammates.
 
"She plays very fast so she wasn't bothered by my game," said Errani about Santangelo. "But I tended to switch rhythm so she struggled. Plus the balls bounce quite high here so it's not easy to aim and find the right distance. I don't know if it was the heat, but by the end I'm sure she was bothered by my game."
 
Errani faces No.1 seed Kirilenko in the quarters, but with a 1-0 lead against the Russian after beating her at Miami early this year, the Italian can only be hopeful.
 
The fourth and final player to make it through on Thursday was Elena Bovina who, after a three hour marathon, beat Camille Pin 63 57 76(6). It was an epic battle but Bovina put up a good fight and after some medical assistance before the tie-break in the final set secured her place in the quarters. She now faces the No.4 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.
 
"It was a long match and it was a little bit up and down," Bovina said. "I had a set and 5-2 and basically the match was over. Camille was a good fighter and she wasn't going to give it up. I played a few really good games and then the tie-breaker was also good."
 
On dealing with needing medical assistance, Bovina said: "I just started to have cramps in both my hamstrings. I didn't want to lose a tie-break for that so I called for a trainer, I took three minutes out, stretched, and it actually helped me to go through with the tie-break."
 
It will be a Spanish and Russian doubles semifinal after No.1 seeds Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual beat Pin and Yanina Wickmayer, 61 61. They will face fellow Spaniards, No.4 seeds María José Martínez Sánchez and Arantxa Parra Santonja. Russian teams Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova and Ekaterina Bychkova and Vesna Manasieva will face one another in the other semifinal.

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