DOHA, Feb 20, 2008 - World number two Svetlana Kuznetsova continued her bid to close the gap on rankings leader Justine Henin by overcoming a desert storm as well as Nathalie Dechy, the former top 20 player from France.

　　Kuznetsova came from 1-3 down in the second set to dig out an industrious win by 7-5, 7-5 against a dangerous opponent who had a one-win head-to-head advantage, though the Russian reckoned the greater adversary was the conditions.

　　The sandstorm which had blown up from Saudi Arabia and caused the closure of Baghdad airport also brought powerful gusts of wind and clouds of particles which tested the players' temperaments as well as their skills.

　　"It was very, very, very difficult because I have not played in a wind like this," said Kuznetsova after reaching the third round of the 2.5-million-dollar Qatar Open, the WTA Tour's newest tier one event.

　　"It was crazy - you can't control the ball, and you can't do any tactics much. You have to be clever and create something because it's a very unpredictable situation.

　　"You have to be clever and analyse as you play how the wind is blowing and what she doesn't like.

　　"It's very hard to stay calm. You see an easy ball and you can't make it and sometimes it's easier to make a hard ball than an easy one."

　　Kuznetsova was nevertheless happy with the way she managed to remain calm, especially during two difficult phases - one when Dechy climbed back from 2-5 to within a couple of points of 6-6 in the first set, and then while she was repairing the two-game deficit in the second set.

　　Some of the time Kuznetsova tried to hit flatter to keep the ball lower and away from the influence of the stormy gusts and near the end of the match, when Dechy saved a match point on her serve to reach 5-5, Kuznetsova served very well to restore her advantage.

　　She duly converted the second match point two games later, with a solid service return and a heavy forehand pulled suddenly across court, looking mighty relieved to have done so.

　　Kuznetsova could meet Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the quarter-final, but in a draw in which so many dangerous young players are making their way forward little can be called probable.

　　Kuznetsova nevertheless knows that if she can repeat last year's performance of reaching the final or do even better, she will reduce some of the large 3,000-point gap between her and Belgium's Henin, who has chosen not to defend the title here this week.

　　Later Ana Ivanovic, the top-seeded Serb, admitted she was doubtful of being able to continue the tournament after she fell, twisted her left ankle, and was left collapsed in tears three points from the end of a 6-3, 6-1 win over Olga Govortsova of Belarussia.

　　"I didn't think I would be able to play on, because it was so painful and we will have to see how it is overmight," she said.

　　Earlier the fifth seeded Anna Chakvetadze, the Russian who won the Paris Indoor Open last week, fell 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 to Li Na, who has just returned from a six months absence.

　　Li, the first Chinese singles player ever to reach the top 20 or to make the quarter-finals of a Gand Slam, looks to be building up nicely for the Beijing Olympics on the evidence of a fighting perfomance in which she saved a set point at 6-7 in he first set tie-break.