Sania Mirza of India rallied to eliminate top-seeded Martina Hingis 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 Thursday at the Korea Open.
Mirza overcame a shaky start to drill precision strokes down the line and tire Hingis out with powerful ground strokes and crosscourt winners.
Hingis was chasing her third season title and second in a row after claiming the Sunfeast Open in India on Sunday. Hingis beat Mirza in the Sunfeast semifinals en route to the title.
``We've played two other times. Third time lucky,'' Mirza said. ``This is the fittest I've ever been, best I've felt.''
Hingis and Mirza traded breaks for six straight games in the first set.
``She played very well today, much better than last week. I gave her too many chances,'' Hingis said. ``Her forehand is really amazing.''
Mirza faces Virginia Ruano Pascual in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard got past Indonesia's Angelique Widjaja 6-4, 6-3.
Third-seeded Marion Bartoli beat Severine Bremond 7-6 (1), 6-1, and Ai Sugiyama downed Anastassia Rodionova 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the quarter-finals.
Sugiyama next faces Paola Suarez, who dominated Catalina Castano 6-4, 6-3, while Bartoli faces Akiko Morigami.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
