Stuttgart - Olympic champion Elena Dementieva struggled in the
beginning and the end on Thursday before defeating Agnes Szavay 7-6
(7-4), 6-1 for a place in the Porsche Grand Prix quarter-finals.

The second-seeded Dementieva fought from 4-1 down in the first set and
then needed five match points to beat the 32nd-ranked Szavay, wrapping
up matters when the Hungarian hit a groundstroke long.

"I really had a slow start, it was tough to come back from 4-1 down. I
won the tiebreak and she was very disappointed about that. She didn't
fight so hard in the second set. (But) I couldn't finish it," said
Dementieva.

However, the Russian was happy overall with her victory in 1 hour 37
minutes as she had lost the first date with Szavay last year.

"It is my first (clay court) tournament of the year .. It feels good so far, but I have to improve my game."

Dementieva now runs into former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, a
7-6 (8-6), 6-4 winner over seventh-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki.

"It is just important to improve match by match and make sure I am
ready for the French Open," she said, looking ahead at the clay court
Grand Slam in paris in late May and early June.

Dementieva was the first player to arrive in Stuttgart a week ago for
the first ever indoor clay tournament on the WTA Tour. The event was
held on a hard court in October in the past.

Set to play later Thursday were new world number one Dinara Safina of
Russia against Slovak Daniela Hantuchova and defending champion Jelena
Jankovic of Serbia against German hope Sabine Lisicki. (dpa)