Henin-Hardenne, Mauresmo advance

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Sunday, saving a set point in a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Italian qualifier Mara Santangelo.

The 21-year-old Belgian star set up a quarterfinal match with 2000 champion Lindsay Davenport, while fourth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo advanced to face 32nd-seeded Fabiola Zuluaga, the first Colombian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Davenport won the last eight points in her 6-1, 6-3 victory over 11th-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia.

Earlier, Mauresmo was the first player to reach the quarterfinals, beating Australia's Alicia Molik 7-5, 7-5. Zuluaga beat Hungaria's Aniko Kapros 6-4, 6-2.

After racing through the first set in 28 minutes, Henin-Hardenne started making uncharacteristic mistakes on her backhand and dropped serve to trail 1-3. She saved four break points in the seventh game, and saved a set point in the 10th game before breaking to level at 5- 5.

Santangelo, ranked No. 129, held serve to force the tiebreaker. She fell behind 4-1, but rallied to tie it at 4 with a volley that had her skipping with delight back to the baseline.

But Henin-Hardenne regained control, ending the match with a forehand pass that just clipped the line. She finished with 24 winners and 29 unforced errors.

Henin-Hardenne edged Davenport in the fourth round last year, rallying from a 4-1 deficit in the deciding set and overcoming cramps to win 7-5, 5-7, 9-7 in 3 1/4 hours.

Mauresmo struggled to beat the 40th-ranked Molik after losing only six games in the first three rounds.

"It was a very tough match, obviously she gave me a lot of trouble," Mauresmo said. "I just really wanted to go through this one and go to the quarters."

Mauresmo, a finalist in 1999, missed the tournament last year because of injuries.

"I'm happy to be back here. I was injured last year, it was so frustrating to watch on TV," Mauresmo said.

"I had something bothering me in my back. I'm going to go for treatment and make sure everything is OK for the quarterfinals."

With the victory, Mauresmo is assured of breaking into the top three for the first time when the next WTA Tour rankings are released. Her career high was No. 4 in October 2002.

"I'll take it," she said. "But what I'm happy about is that it's because I'm winning matches rather than because some other players are struggling."

Davenport didn't give Zvonareva a chance to break her serve and converted on both her chances in the second set to finish in 47 minutes. Zvonareva made six of her 24 unforced errors in the last two games.

"It was such a fast match, it kind of surprised me. She helped me out with a few unforced errors in the beginning," Davenport said.

Since her last match against Davenport in Melbourne, Henin- Hardenne has improved her ranking to No. 1 and won her first two major titles.

"That was quite a match, and I'm looking forward to playing her again," Davenport said. "She's a much different player now: No. 1 in the world, two Grand Slams. But if I play like I did today and take some chances, who knows?

"Right now I'm feeling great and excited to be back in the quarters."

In men's fourth-round matches, No. 1 Andy Roddick faced No. 16 Sjeng Schalken of Netherlands, and defending champion Andre Agassi tried to avenge a 2002 Wimbledon loss to Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand.

The women's draw lost one of its biggest stars Saturday when third- seeded Venus Williams was upset 6-4, 7-6 (5) by 25th-seeded Lisa Raymond.

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