Croatian teenager Karolina Sprem played another strong match

Posted on Wed, Aug. 06, 2003
Sprem Advances to Quarters in Finland
Associated Press


ESPOO, Finland - Croatian teenager Karolina Sprem played another strong match Wednesday, beating German veteran Barbara Rittner 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the clay-court Nordea Nordic Light Open.

Sprem, seeded eighth, routed her first opponent, Cristina Torrens Valero of Spain, 6-0, 6-0. Sprem next plays Petra Mandula, the fourth-seeded Hungarian who defeated Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2.

Russia's Vera Douchevina advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 upset of third-seeded Czech Denisa Chladkova, a finalist last year. Douchevina, 16, has been the world's top-ranked junior and made the junior final at the French Open.

She's looking to become the second Russian teenager to win the Nordic Light Open. Svetlana Kuznetsova won last year in the inaugural event at Espoo, outside Helsinki.

Also, second-seeded Anna Pistolesi of Israel, Myriam Casanova of Switzerland, Marta Marrero of Spain and Jelena Kostanic of Croatia made the second round.

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