STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -Patty Schnyder mixed up her shots just enough to keep Alisa Kleybanova off balance.
The fifth-seeded Schnyder of Switzerland displayed a nice array of power and finesse to get by the inconsistent Kleybanova 7-6 (8), 6-4 on Thursday in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic.
"Today, of course, I had a plan. It was just a matter of how many points she would allow me to do it," Schnyder said. "She was trying to dictate everything, whether winners or errors. ... I think she was so dominant it was tough for me to play. I had to mix it up a lot. It was her game plan to hit a lot of winners and also accept some errors."
Next up for Schnyder: a date with top-seeded Serena Williams in Friday's quarterfinals. And Williams will certainly be eager to play better tennis after rallying from a set down to beat 15-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday night in her opening match.
Williams has won seven of their previous 10 meetings, though Schnyder has taken two of the past three including one match in which Williams retired.
"It feels strange already the quarters," Schnyder said. "I like playing her. Obviously she's a great champion. Still, with her game, somehow I have found some ways to beat her in previous matches. She's the favorite and she does (well on) hard court. It's going to very tough."
The 29-year-old Schnyder is making her sixth appearance at Stanford, with a runner-up performance in 2006 here to Kim Clijsters as her best showing. She hasn't dropped a set in her first two matches.
Schnyder led 5-3 in the first-set tiebreaker against Kleybanova before the 19-year-old Russian fought back to make it interesting. The left-handed Schnyder trailed 3-2 in the second set after Kleybanova held serve, but evened it at 3-3 after winning her serve at love and hitting an ace on game point. Kleybanova then beat herself with her shaky serve. She double-faulted on back-to-back points to fall behind 4-3, Schnyder then held serve at love again to make it 5-3. After consecutive aces to start her next service game, Kleybanova had another double fault before holding that game.
"At the end I really felt comfortable on my service games," said Schnyder, who hit several pretty drop shots. "I felt like I finally had better speed and footwork on my forehands."
This was the players' second career meeting and second this year after Schnyder won 6-1, 6-3 in first round of the Gold Coast event in Australia.
Also playing Thursday were Marion Bartoli of France and England's Anne Keothavong, both unseeded, and third-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia against Samantha Stosur of Australia.
