Fifth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain overcame a spirited challenge from Croatian qualifier Silvija Talaja to win 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (9-7) Thursday in a marathon singles match in the second round of the Toyota Princess Cup.

Third-seeded Jelena Dokic overcame a shaky start at Ariake Tennis Forest Park to beat Russian youngster Lina Krasnoroutskaya while Japanese No. 1 Ai Sugiyama also moved into the quarterfinals after a three-sets victory over Joannette Kruger of South Africa.

Sanchez-Vicario, winner of three French Open titles and a U.S. Open championship in 16 years on the circuit, saved three match points in the third-set tie-break to prevail in a baseline battle lasting over three hours.

The fifth-seeded Spaniard, who converted all her break points in a straight-sets victory in the first round, squandered numerous openings against Talaja but won the longest rally of the match to secure her place in the final eight.

"I had a very tough match out there. I had so many break points but wasn't able to convert my chances. In the third set, I felt I was able to be more aggressive and put pressure on my opponent," Sanchez-Vicario said.

Dokic, who picked up her first title on the women's tour at the Italian Open in May, got a bye in the first round and started slowly against Krasnoroutskaya, struggling to find the range with her serve.

However, the one-time Australian national team member always looked in command and took advantage of the Russian's waywardness to secure the match 6-4, 6-4.

"I was glad to get through today with the jet lag and everything. I didn't play very well but I played well enough. I was glad it only went to two sets because I would have struggled in the third," said Dokic, who holds citizenship both in Yugoslavia and Australia.

Local favorite Sugiyama began nervously against Kruger but improved as the game wore on, making no mistakes in the tie-break and nailing her first match point to win the game 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).