Associated Press

Dubai, March 3:

Leading seeds Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams and Anastasia Myskina won second-round matches and reached the Dubai Women’s Open quarters. World No 1 Davenport defeated China’s Jie Zheng 6-2, 7-5, Williams survived an early scare to beat Russia’s Elena Bovina 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. Myskina advance when Marion Bartoli of France retired with left knee tendinitis while trailing 4-2. Davenport’s quarter-final opponent will be another former Wimbledon champion, Conchita Martinez, who ousted seventh-seeded Nathalie Dechy of France 6-1, 6-2.

Williams will meet Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who beat Elena Likhovtseva of Russia 7-5, 6-4, and Myskina faces eighth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, who downed Li Na of China 6-3, 7-6.

The other quarter-final pits wild card Sania Mirza of India against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro. Davenport won the last four games to vanquish Jie, a qualifier. She has reached the final of her last two events, the Tokyo Indoors last month, and the Australian Open in January, when she crushed Martinez in the first round to level their head-to-head record at 8. Williams, making her first tour appearance since a stomach illness forced her to withdrew before the Paris Indoor quarter-finals last month, lost the opening five games to Bovina and the first set 6-1, raising fears she would follow sister Venus out of the tournament.