Dementieva advances to set up quarterfinal against Bartoli

Dementieva, Bartoli advance

STUTTGART, Germany — Second-seeded Elena Dementieva overcame a slow start to beat Agnes Szavay of Hungary 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Thursday and set up a quarterfinal match against Marion Bartoli at the Porsche Grand Prix.

Bartoli, a former Wimbledon runner-up from France, beat seventh-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-6 (6), 6-4.

Dementieva, a Russian who is the Olympic champion, fell behind 4-1 before battling back to win the first set. She cruised through the second, but then needed five match points to end it.

“I really had a slow start, it was tough to come back from 4-1 down,” Dementieva said. “I am still finding my feet on clay court. It is my first tournament of the year (on clay) and my footwork needs to improve. It is just important to improve match by match, and make sure I am ready for the French Open.”

The Stuttgart tournament, previously played on a hard surface, has become the first indoor clay event on the circuit and is a warmup for next month’s French Open.