Monica Seles recovered from a poor start to overcome Japan's Ai Sugiyama 4-6 6-1 6-4 and secure her place in the last 16 at Wimbledon this afternoon. The American, who had not lost a set to Sugiyama in eight previous meetings, struggled to find her range in the 41-minute first set and dropped her serve twice as her determined opponent dictated play from the baseline.
But Seles, spurred on by a vocal court one crowd, romped through the second before out-witting 26-year-old Sugiyama with her trademark groundstrokes in the decider. Seles will face 20th seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand after she beat Meilen Tu of the USA 6-2 3-6 6-0, while Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva is also through to the last 16 following her 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 victory over Silvia Farina Elia from Italy.
Latest scores: Monica Seles (USA) bt Ai Sugiyama (Japan) 4-6 6-1 6-4 20Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) bt Meilen Tu (USA) 6-2 3-6 6-0Magdalena Maleeva(Bulgaria) bt Silvia Farina Elia(Italy) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4
Filed by Shane Murray
