TENNIS in DEPTH.

At the Toray Pan Pacific Open Vera Zvonareva has certainly turned the tide by reaching the quarterfinals on Wednesday in two quick sets. Zvonareva, the No.2 seed this week, had lost to Italian qualifier Roberta Vinci before, but there would be none of that this time as Zvonareva broke away from 3-all in the first set, winning nine of the next 10 games for a 64 60 victory. “Overall I played a good match but there’s room for improvement,” Zvonareva said. “I didn’t show my best today but I played well when I needed to.”

This was the first day since Sunday where rain didn’t require usage of the Centre Court roof and nearby indoor courts. “The conditions were different today,” Zvonareva added. “The roof was open and it was windy, which affected both of our games throughout the match. But, overall, I am happy with how I played.” Next up for Zvonareva is No.7 seed Elena Dementieva, a 64 62 winner over Flavia Pennetta. Dementieva leads Zvonareva in their head-to-head, 4-2. Not only is this the pair’s first clash since 2008, it is also the first time Zvonareva will be the higher ranked player when playing her compatriot Dementieva.

Another quarterfinal clash set up early in the day was No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka and qualifier Coco Vandeweghe, after Azarenka’s 62 retirement win over No.11 seed Marion Bartoli (viral illness) and Vandeweghe’s 63 60 win over Julia Goerges. This is a first-time meeting and Vandeweghe’s second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour quarterfinal, after her run to the final eight at San Diego in the summer (where she beat Zvonareva en route to her first final eight).

Later in the afternoon the No.5 and No.6 seeds also scored wins, No.5 seed Francesca Schiavone putting an end to the run of Kimiko Date Krumm a day after the Japanese No.1 turned 40, 63 63, and No.6 seed Agnieszka Radwanska recording an identical 63 63 victory over Andrea Petkovic.

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