Schnyder Eliminates Suarez on Grandstand

Fifth-seeded Patty Schnyder had her hands full in her third-round Acura Classic match against Paola Suarez of Argentina but managed to pull out an exciting 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals.

Playing on the Grandstand which was nearly filled to capacity, Schnyder battled Suarez for one-hour and 39 minutes as the crowd clearly favored the Argentine who missed most of last year with a hip injury.

Schnyder scored the critical service break in the sixth game of the first set as Suarez fell behind 15-40 and went on to lose serve. That was all Schnyder needed as she served out the set three games later.

In the second set, to the delight of the crowd, Suarez turned the tables on Schnyder and it was the Argentine’s turn to score the service breaks.

Suarez broke in the sixth and eighth games of the set and would go on to even the match at one set all.

Despite losing her serve in the third game, the third set was all Schnyder as the fifth seed scored three service breaks to establish a 5-1 lead.

As the crowd implored Suarez to stage a comeback, Schnyder served for the match. Falling behind 15-30, the Swiss player fired two straight aces and clinched the victory on the next point.

• Schnyder advances to the quarterfinals where she will meet fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva.
• Schnyder is ranked eighth in the world.
• Schnyder now trails Suarez 5-4 in career head-to-head meetings.
• Schnyder is playing in her fourth career Acura Classic. She reached the quarterfinals last year.
• Schnyder reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2004.
• Suarez has won 39 career doubles titles including the eight Grand Slam titles she has won with Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.
• Suarez is playing in her sixth career Acura Classic.
• Suarez is ranked 341 in the world but entered the Acura Classic main draw with a special injury ranking of 55.
• Suarez reached the singles semifinals at Roland Garros in 2004.

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