BBC SPORT | Tennis | Sanchez-Vicario's reign ends in Spain

Wednesday's Spanish Open results

Defending champion and second seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario crashed out of the Spanish Open when she lost 6-3 7-6 to American Chanda Rubin in the second round.

But top seed Monica Seles progressed easily enough with 7-5 6-2 win over Spain's Marta Marrero after receiving a bye - like Sanchez-Vicario - in the first round of the clay court tournament.

Seles will meet fifth seed Anna Smashnova - the only other remaining seed - who beat Australia's Alicia Molik 7-5 6-2 in the quarter-finals.

Six-time winner Sanchez-Vicario struggled from the start against the hard-hitting Rubin, who will now face Magui Serna in the last eight.

Rubin prevails

The 30-year-old Sanchez-Vicario dropped her serve in the second game and was broken twice more before going on to lose the first set 6-3.

Rubin raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set and then served for the match at 5-2.

Chandra Rubin
Rubin put out the home favourite

But Sanchez-Vicario staged a brief comeback, saving five match points as she battled her way back to 5-5.

But Rubin eventually took the tiebreak with her seventh match point.

Meanwhile, world number six Seles went behind early on before fighting back against 19-year-old Marrero, who reached the last eight at Roland Garros two years ago.

She dropped her serve in the fifth game of the opening set and then trailed 5-3.

But she clawed her way back in and won four games on the trot to snatch the first set 7-5.

Seles then rattled off the first five games of the next set to ensure her continued participation.

Line-up completed

Meanwhile, Serna, the only remaining Spaniard left in the tournament, beat Australia's Nicole Pratt 6-2 6-2.

And Paola Suarez ended the hopes of 15-year-old qualifier Dinara Safina's with a 7-5 6-1 win.

The Argentine will now face compatriot Clarisa Fernandez, who beat America's Marissa Irvin 6-4 3-6 6-0.

The quarter-final line-up is completed by Emilie Loit of France and Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga. Loit beat Cara Black of Zimbabwe 6-4 6-4, while Zuluaga dismissed Italian Rita Grande 7-5 7-5.

Second round results from the Spanish Open:
(seeding in bold)

Clarissa Fernandez (Arg) beat Marissa Irvin (US) 6-4 3-6 6-0
Emilie Loit (Fra) beat Cara Black (Zim) 6-4 6-4
Chanda Rubin (US) beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spa) 6-3 7-6 (8-6)
1 Monica Seles (US) beat Marta Marrero (Spa) 7-5 6-2
Magui Serna (Spa) beat Nicole Pratt (Aus) 6-2 6-2
5 Anna Smashnova (Isr) beat Alicia Molik (Aus) 7-5 6-2
Paola Suarez (Arg) beat Dinara Safin (Rus) 7-5 6-1
Fabiola Zuluaga (Col) beat 8 Rita Grande (It) 7-5 7-5


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