Davenport eases past Wozniacki, Roddick cruises
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fourth-seeded Lindsay Davenport, playing her first WTA event on U.S. soil in two years, swept aside Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki 6-0 6-2 in the Memphis Championship quarter-finals on Thursday.
The 31-year-old American broke her 17-year-old opponent, the sixth seed, three times in the first set before sealing victory in 53 minutes.
"I know she's a good, up-and-coming player so it was important for me to try and get off to a good start, which I was able to do," former world number one Davenport told reporters.
"I felt like on this court I might be able to overpower her, and I was successful in doing that tonight and I managed to keep the momentum going the whole way through.
"I am very motivated here at this tournament, the first one I have played in the United States since the summer of '06. It's exciting for me and I am hoping to do well and get to the finals."
Davenport, who returned to the court last September after an 11-month absence to have a baby, will meet New Zealand's Marina Erakovic in the last four.
Qualifier Erakovic earlier came from behind to beat Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 4-6 6-3 6-3.
BATTLED PAST
In the other women's quarter-finals, third seed Shahar Peer of Israel battled past seventh-seeded Swede Sofia Arvidsson 3-6 6-1 6-3 and fifth-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus beat German Julia Goerges 7-6 6-2.
"It was really, really tough," Peer said after ousting the 2006 champion in a match that lasted almost two hours. "We both played very well.
"I changed my tactics a little bit from the first set and tried to be very aggressive and close out the match. It worked."
In the men's draw, top-seeded Andy Roddick blasted past fellow American Mardy Fish 6-4 6-2 in a second-round match.
Roddick unleashed 14 aces to cruise to victory in just over an hour and book a quarter-final meeting with eighth-seeded Swede Robin Soederling, who crushed Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2 6-1.
Big-serving Australian Chris Guccione fired down 15 aces to upset sixth seed Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-3 6-4 while veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman beat fifth-seeded American Sam Querrey 6-4 4-6 7-6.
Guccione will meet fourth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek in the last eight where Bjorkman faces American Donald Young, a 6-1 1-6 6-3 winner over Colombian Alejandro Falla.
(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Ed Osmond)
