ROME, May 12 (Reuters) - Second seed Francesca Schiavone took advantage of rowdy home backing on Thursday as she fought back to defeat Slovak Daniela Hantuchova and seal a place in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open.
In a match that went one way and then the other on centre court, the Italian lost the first set before coming back to win 3-6 6-2 7-5 in Rome.
"Winning a battle gives you a lot of satisfaction. I'm happy because I didn't play that well, but sometimes in tennis it's better winning that way," said Schiavone, who next plays the woman she defeated in last year's French Open final, Australian Samantha Stosur, a 6-3 6-4 winner against Polona Hercog.
"Tomorrow is another day and I hope to play better."
Hantuchova silenced the Foro Italico crowd early on, racing into a 4-0 lead before taking the first set with a combination of down-the-line backhands and well-disguised dropshots.
But the Roland Garros champion rarely gives up and came screaming back into the match, breaking in the third and seventh games of the second set to level.
The Italian broke the Slovak's serve again to go 2-1 up in the decider but Hantuchova rallied against the odds, rediscovering her timing and pressing the Italian into a trio of loose backhands to break back at 3-3.
With the scores at 5-5 and 30-30 on Hantuchova's serve, the Italian got the benefit of a third straight line call and with AS Roma soccer striker Francesco Totti in the crowd, Schiavone latched onto a telegraphed dropshot to make the decisive break.
With the Roman gods seemingly against her, the demoralised Slovak lofted another poorly disguised dropshot for Schiavone to lash down the line on match point, prompting fist pumping and a booming rendition of YMCA over the loudspeaker.
"I'm proud of the support," said Schiavone. "The fans are with you, they applaud and want you to win. It's certainly not a burden for me. The boos and applause form part of the game."
Also into the last eight are fourth-seed Li Na of China, who defeated Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2 6-1 and will next play Hungarian Greta Arn, who overcame Russian Elena Vesnina 3-6 7-6 7-6.
On a good day for the favourites, fifth-seed Jelena Jankovic won through against Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 2-6 6-2.
In a match that went one way and then the other on centre court, the Italian lost the first set before coming back to win 3-6 6-2 7-5 in Rome.
"Winning a battle gives you a lot of satisfaction. I'm happy because I didn't play that well, but sometimes in tennis it's better winning that way," said Schiavone, who next plays the woman she defeated in last year's French Open final, Australian Samantha Stosur, a 6-3 6-4 winner against Polona Hercog.
"Tomorrow is another day and I hope to play better."
Hantuchova silenced the Foro Italico crowd early on, racing into a 4-0 lead before taking the first set with a combination of down-the-line backhands and well-disguised dropshots.
But the Roland Garros champion rarely gives up and came screaming back into the match, breaking in the third and seventh games of the second set to level.
The Italian broke the Slovak's serve again to go 2-1 up in the decider but Hantuchova rallied against the odds, rediscovering her timing and pressing the Italian into a trio of loose backhands to break back at 3-3.
With the scores at 5-5 and 30-30 on Hantuchova's serve, the Italian got the benefit of a third straight line call and with AS Roma soccer striker Francesco Totti in the crowd, Schiavone latched onto a telegraphed dropshot to make the decisive break.
With the Roman gods seemingly against her, the demoralised Slovak lofted another poorly disguised dropshot for Schiavone to lash down the line on match point, prompting fist pumping and a booming rendition of YMCA over the loudspeaker.
"I'm proud of the support," said Schiavone. "The fans are with you, they applaud and want you to win. It's certainly not a burden for me. The boos and applause form part of the game."
Also into the last eight are fourth-seed Li Na of China, who defeated Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2 6-1 and will next play Hungarian Greta Arn, who overcame Russian Elena Vesnina 3-6 7-6 7-6.
On a good day for the favourites, fifth-seed Jelena Jankovic won through against Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 2-6 6-2.
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