WAIKOLOA, Hawaii, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Second seed Lisa Raymond and No. 4 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia avoided a wave of upsets Thursday and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big Island Championships.
Raymond outlasted fellow American Ashley Harkleroad, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), while Likhovtseva swept past Ansley Cargill of the United States, 6-3, 6-3.
Seventh seed Conchita Martinez of Spain also moved on when American Sarah Taylor retired two games into the second set with a sprained left foot. A former Wimbledon champion, Martinez took the first set, 6-1, and won the first two games in the second.
In a match suspended by darkness Wednesday, Jill Craybas won an All-American battle, upsetting fifth seed Meilen Tu, 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-0.
Raymond fought off three set points before finally putting away the 17-year-old Harkleroad.
"It's a good match to get through," said Raymond, 28, who will face Martinez in the quarterfinals. "I played the big points well. When I was down, I hung in there. That was the key. I didn't make silly mistakes and used my experience to get through those (set) points."
In a match involving unseeded players, Zimbabwe's Cara Black rolled to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Corina Morariu, an American who has battled back from cancer.
Black's next opponent is Likhovtseva, her friend and doubles partner.
Tu became the fifth seeded player eliminated in the first two rounds of this Tier IV hardcourt event. Top seed Anne Kremer and No. 8 Alina Jidkova lost in the opening round and were followed out of the tournament by third seed Barbara Schett and No. 6 Marissa Irvin.
