Tashkent, Uzbekistan (My Sportsbook) - Shahar Peer of Israel and Belarus' Olga Govortsova were among the second-round winners Thursday at the Tashkent Open. The second-seeded Peer had her second easy match of the tournament in a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Germany's Kathrin Woerle. Peer, who captured the Guangzhou crown last week, was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Estonia's Maret Ani in the first round. Govortsova, the fourth seed, also had another easy match. After a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russia's Arina Rodionova in the first round, she notched a 6-2, 6-3 triumph on Thursday against another Russian in Vesna Manasieva. Russia's Alexandra Panova and Uzbekistan crowd favorite Akgul Amanmuradova were also victorious on Thursday. Panova knocked off seventh-seeded Austrian Patricia Mayr, 7-5, 6-1, and will next play Peer in the quarterfinals. Amanmuradova rallied for a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) win over Russian Ekaterina Bychkova and will face fifth-seeded Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland in the quarters. Friday's other quarterfinals will pit Govortsova against fellow Belarusian Darya Kustova and top-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan against Romanian sixth seed Monica Niculescu. The 2009 Tashkent winner will earn $37,000. |
