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Venus Tunes Kournikova at Italian Open Copyright © 1999 SCN ROME (Thursday, May 06, 1999) - No. 3 seed Venus Williams needed less than an hour to dispatch No. 9 Anna Kournikova on Thursday and move into the quarterfinals of the Italian Open. Williams, already a three-time winner on tour in 1999, beat Kournikova 6-2, 6-2, and joined her sister Serena in the quarterfinals of the French Open warm-up event. No. 6 Serena overpowered No. 13 Irina Spirlea 6-2, 6-3. Serena has reached the final of her last three events, winning two. Also on Thursday, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, who has been struggling with a left wrist injury since November, appeared to stop trying to fight back in a 6-4, 6-1 upset at the hands of Austria's Sylvia Plischke. Mary Pierce, the fourth seed, also advanced, battling back to eliminate No. 15 Conchita Martinez 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) in a match that lasted nearly three hours. Pierce beat Martinez in the 1997 Italian Open final, ending the Spaniard's run of four consecutive titles at the Foro Italico. |