Hantuchova, Kirilenko sail through

Pennetta runs into fourth seed; Sunitha Rao bows out and Tara Iyer is ousted from doubles

You have to deserve luck,” said second seed Daniela Hantuchova, after she steamrolled her way into the quarter finals of the Sunfeast Open here today.

The WTA tier III meet has lost its top seed already, but Hantuchova promises fireworks. She took less than an hour to dismiss Russian Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 6-1.

“I don’t believe in luck. You have to do the right things,” said Hantuchova, whose rich mix of backhand, forehand and drop-volleys left her opponent stunned. She now takes on eighth seed Jan-Yung Chan.

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The first set saw some semblance of equality till the fifth game, but then Hantuchova took charge. She charged to the net to meet Rodionova forehands, nullifying them with measured drop volleys. And when the Russian tried the same trick, she came up with overhead lobs. The result —four games on the trot and the first set.

As if that was not enough, Rodionova’s contact lenses started giving trouble, forcing a medial timeout. In the second set, the tall Slovak simply ruled the court. Rodionova managed to hold the fourth game to save herself the ignominy of a blank out.

“At this moment I’m doing all the right things. Hope this continues for the rest of the tournament,” Hantuchova said.

India’s last hope, Sunitha Rao, was shown the door by Britain’s Anne Keothavong, who beat her 6-3, 6-2. Keothavong will meet Tzipora Obziler in the quarters.

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Seventh seed Italian Flavia Pennetta set up a quarter final clash with fourth seed Maria Kirilenko when she beat Uzbekistan’s Agul Amanmuradova 6-1, 6-3.

In the first match of the day, Belarusian Tatiana Poutchek controlled her temper to get past Swede Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 6-1 to book a last-eight berth.

American teenager Vania King, who upset top seed Marion Bartoli on Tuesday, was a shadow of her self on court today when she was just brushed aside by Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine 1-6, 2-6. Koryttseva takes on Poutchek.

Pennetta, a strong baseline player, used her powerful forehand and double-handed backhands to keep the Uzbek on her toes. She made it difficult for her opponent with well-placed shots that caught Amanmuradova on the wrong foot more often than not. The Uzbek could only hold her serve in the opening game and Pennetta won six on the trot to wrap up the first set 6-1.

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In the second, it seemed Amanmuradova was finally waking up and at one point the set was level at 3-3. But that’s all Pennetta allowed her. The next game was as easy as it gets and she got game set and match 6-1, 6-3.

In the doubles Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva beat Delhi girl Tara Iyer and Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1,

5-7, 10-4.