Safina marches on

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:31

The world number one came into the fourth round match having lost just one of her last 18 contests on the surface and had dropped only five games at Roland Garros so far this year.

Rezai could do little to halt her opponent’s momentum, taking only one game off her as Safina cruised to victory in 53 minutes.

The French youngster held her first service game but was blown away thereafter, Safina breaking in the fourth and sixth to take the first set 6-1.

The second set was even more one-sided, Safina imediately setting the tone by breaking Rezai in the first game before wrapping it up to love to advanvce to the quarter-finals.

The next round promises to be a more demanding test for the Russian, who will face the winner of Victoria Azarenka’s match with defending champion Ana Ivanovic.

Dominika Cibulkova became the first woman to reach the quarter-finals with a convincing straight-sets victory over Agnes Szavay.

Hungary’s Szavay, the 29th seed, could not reproduce the exploits which dumped out third seed Venus Williams in the third round, as Cibulkova posted a 6-2 6-4 success on Suzanne Lenglen court.

The 20th seed, from Slovakia, will play Maria Sharapova or Na Li in the last eight.

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