May 11, 2005	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1426

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HAMBURG, May 10: Age and the cold weather caught up with Andre Agassi at the Hamburg Masters on Tuesday. The 35-year-old American’s first-round defeat by unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez on a fridge-like centre court at the Rothenbaum spoiled his French Open preparations following an encouraging run to the Rome Masters semi-finals last week.

The wintry temperature in northern Germany left eighth seed Agassi stiff-limbed and unable to respond to a more adept claycourt opponent. His 6-2 7-6 defeat was also demoralising for the eight-times grand slam winner less than two weeks before Roland Garros.

Agassi is enjoying spending time in Hamburg with his German wife Steffi Graf and their two young children and says he is undecided about whether to continue competing on tour next year. Despite Tuesday’s defeat, the world number seven remains optimistic for Roland Garros, where he won in 1999.

Sharapova IN last 16

ROME: Top seed Maria Sharapova reached the last 16 of the Rome Masters on Tuesday but her Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova failed to join her in round three. Sharapova, who as one of the top eight seeds was given a first round bye, beat Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-2, while fifth seed Kuznetsova was defeated 6-2, 6-4 by Argentinian Paola Suarez.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Sharapova, who hit 32 winners but made 26 unforced errors, admitted there was plenty of room for improvement after a patchy second round performance riddled with mistakes. Seeded pair Tatiana Golovin and Elena Likhovtseva suffered humiliating first round exits at the Foro Italico.

Serbian Ana Ivanovic defeated French 12th seed Golovin 6-3, 6-4, while Israel’s Anna Smashnova beat Russian 11th seed Likhovtseva 6-1, 6-3.

Spain’s Conchita Martinez, a four-time Rome champion, beat Angela Haynes of the United States to claim a second round place, while Japanese 15th seed Ai Sugiyama ousted Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva to make the last 32.

The clay court Rome Masters is a warm-up event for the French Open, which starts on May 23.

Women’s singles results (Tuesday)

Round 2 Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) 6-4 6-2; Paola Suarez (Argentina) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-2 6-4; Round 1 Gisela Dulko (Argentina) bt Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spain) 6-3 7-5; Evgenia Linetskaya (Russia) bt Tathiana Garbin (Italy) 6-3 6-4; Ana Ivanovic (Serbia and Montenegro) bt Tatiana Golovin (France) 6-3 6-4; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) bt Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) 6-2 6-4; Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 6-4 7-6(4); Mara Santangelo (Italy) bt Fabiola Zuluaga (Colombia) 6-2 6-2; Conchita Martinez Granados (Spain) bt Angela Haynes (United States) 6-0 6-1; Anna Smashnova (Israel) bt Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) 6-1 6-3; Mary Pierce (France) bt Shuai Peng (China) 6-1 7-5.

Monday’s results:

Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) bt Lubomira Kurhajcova (Slovakia) 6-3 3-6 6-1; Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Germany) bt Antonella Serra Zanetti (Italy) 6-1 6-2; Jelena Jankovic (Serbia and Montenegro) bt Dally Randriantefy (Madagascar) 6-7(3) 6-2 6-1; Catalina Castano (Colombia) bt Tatiana Perebiynis (Ukraine) 6-3 6-2; Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) bt Nathalie Dechy (France) 4-6 6-1 6-4; Francesca Schiavone (Italy) bt Meghann Shaughnessy (United States) 7-5 6-0; 13-Silvia Farina Elia (Italy) bt Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-4 6-1; Samantha Stosur (Australia) bt Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine) 6-3 6-3; Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) bt Alina Jidkova (Russia) 6-4 6-1; 9-Elena Bovina (Russia) bt Mashona Washington (United States) 6-2 6-2; Paola Suarez (Argentina) bt Karolina Sprem (Croatia) 6-3 6-0.—Agencies