Sixth seed Petrova scorches through in Melbourne

Updated: 2006-01-22 10:38

Sixth seed Nadia Petrova was in scorching form as she thrashed unseeded Russian compatriot Elena Vesnina 6-3 6-1 on Sunday to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

Nadia Petrova of Russia celebrates beating compatriot Elena Vesnina at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 22, 2006. [Reuters]

Petrova, twice a French Open semi-finalist, had never before made it past the fourth round here but profited from a string of errors by inexperienced 19-year-old Vesnina, who was playing in her first grand slam tournament and succumbed after 62 minutes.

Vesnina produced a sloppy 35 unforced errors, the final one coming when she lamely netted a backhand on Petrova's first match point.

The match was played with the roof over Rod Laver Arena closed after the event's extreme heat rule was invoked as the mercury crept towards a forecast 43 Celsius (109.40F).

Petrova will face either fourth-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova or 17th seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the quarter-finals.