Bremond stuns Sugiyama at Wimbledon

LONDON: French qualifier Severine Bremond reached her first grand slam singles quarter-final with a surprise 7-6, 6-3 victory over Japan's Ai Sugiyama at Wimbledon on Monday.

Sugiyama, who beat 1999 champions Martina Hingis in the third round, served for the first set but after that 26-year-old Bremond outlsugged the women's 18th seed both on serve and from the baseline.

The Frenchwoman took a marathon first set tiebreak 13-11 and broke early in the second set, eventually sealing the biggest win of her career when Sugiyama sent a forehand wide on match point.

Bremond plays either French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne or Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the last eight.