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Quarterfinals, semis on tap at rain-plagued du Maurier Open
Saturday, August 21 07:47:21 PT

TORONTO (TICKER) -- Rains have made today a potentially great day for tennis fans in Toronto.

Friday's wet conditions have left little time to finish the $1.05 million du Maurier Open, so the completion of the quarterfinals will be followed by the semifinals today. Most of the players left are big names.

The furthest along in her quarterfinal match was third seed Mary Pierce, who will enjoy a 6-1, 4-2 lead against French countrywoman Sandrine Testud when they restart.

The only other match that got under way on Friday was between second seed and four-time defending champion Monica Seles of the United States and No. 9 Barbara Schett of Austria, who split two games.

In the other two quarterfinals, top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland faces fifth seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain and No. 6 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa meets the lone remaining non-seed, Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France.

The top seed and world No. 1, Hingis needed just over an hour to dump No. 16 Chanda Rubin of the United States, 6-3, 6-1, in the third round on Thursday. She improved to 28-5 this year on hard courts.

After needing three sets to win her second-round match, Seles barely won a first-set tiebreaker before getting past No. 15 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, on Thursday.

Pierce advanced to her third quarterfinal at this event by beating 1997 finalist Anke Huber of Germany, 6-2, 7-5, while Sanchez-Vicario downed fellow Spaniard and 12th seed Conchita Martinez, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.

Hingis dropped the first two games of the match before reeling off nine of the next 10 games to take control. She improved her season record to 48-8 as she tunes up for the U.S. Open in two weeks.

After back-to-back losses at the French Open and Wimbledon, Hingis took some time off before returning to action and winning the TIG Tennis Classic in San Diego two weeks ago. She lost in the semifinals of last week's Acura Classic in Los Angeles, but bounced back with a 6-0, 6-3 second-round win on Tuesday.

Seles never has missed a final in six appearances at this event. Her title here in 1995 was her first event since getting stabbed during a match in Hamburg, Germany in 1993.

She was sidelined for a month with a left forearm injury before returning this week. The former No. 1 player has a 27-9 record in 1999 with one title. She has won 10 of 13 matches on hard courts this season.

First prize is $150,000.


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