Davenport through to Australian quarters for ninth time
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-22 11:17

World number one Lindsay Davenport limped through to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday with a 6-2 6-4 win over Russian 14th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Lindsay Davenport of the U.S. hits a return against Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia during the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 22, 2006.[Reuters]

Davenport briefly looked to be in trouble when she injured her left ankle in the second set then lost four games in a row, but the Californian regained her composure and won the last three games on the trot to wrap up victory in an hour.

Davenport will play eighth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne on Tuesday for a place in the semi-finals after the Belgian crushed Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-0 6-3.

Davenport has made the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on eight previous occassions, winning the tournament in 2000 and finishing runner-up to Serena Williams last year.