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| August 11, 2005 | Thursday | Rajab 5, 1426 |
Sharapova overcomes Kirilenko
LOS ANGELES, Aug 10: Russian top seed Maria Sharapova shook off the rust of five weeks away from the court to overcome a frustrated Maria Kirilenko 7-6 6-2 in the second round of the JP Morgan Chase Open on Tuesday.
Playing her first tour match since losing to Venus Williams in the semifinals at Wimbledon, an erratic Sharapova mixed pinpoint accuracy on her booming groundstroke with a string of errors forced by her speedy and creative compatriot.
By adeptly mixing her backhand and playing short angles, the 50th-ranked Kirilenko frustrated her off-court friend, but Sharapova continued her assault on the corners and the strategy eventually paid off after a few nervy moments.
The 18-year-old Sharapova needed seven set points to close out the first, wasting four opportunities in the 12th game and three more in the tiebreaker.
Kirilenko was flustered by three questionable calls in the tiebreaker, including consecutive decisions that gave Sharapova a 4-3 lead.
Sharapova went on to take the tiebreaker 9-7 when she blasted a crosscourt forehand too deep for Kirilenko to return.
In other matches, China’s Shuai Peng continued her fine run of form with a 7-6 6-0 victory over Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela in a first round encounter.
Eleni Daniilidou of Greece beat Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina 7-6 7-5 to set up a second round tie with number two seed Svetlana Kuznetosova of Russia.
Croatia’s Karolina Sprem edged Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine 6-4 7-6 and plays fifth seed Kim Clijsters next.
Iveta Benasova of the Czech Republic overcame Indian prospect Sania Mirza 6-3 1-6 6-4 and now lines up against 16th seed Anna Chakvetdatze, with the winner going on to face Sharapova.
Results (second round)
Klara Koukalova (Czech Republic) bt Amy Frazier (United States) 6-3; 4-6 6-3; Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 7-6(7) 6-2; Varvara Lepchenko (Uzbekistan) bt Silvija Talaja (Croatia) 6-4 6-2.
First round
Tiantian Sun (China) bt Maria Fernanda Alves (Brazil) 6-0 6-1; Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) bt Maria Emilia Salerni (Argentina) 7-6(2) 7-5; Karolina Sprem (Croatia) bt Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine) 6-4 7-6(11); Tathiana Garbin (Italy) bt Bethanie Mattek (United States) 6-4 6-2; Katerina Bondarenko (Ukraine) bt Evgenia Linetskaya (Russia) 6-0 6-3; Conchita Martinez (Spain) bt Mashona Washington (United States) 6-1 6-4; Jill Craybas (United States) bt Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spain) 6-0 4-6 6-3; Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) bt Sania Mirza (India) 6-3 1-6 6-4; Shuai Peng (China) beat Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) 7-6(5) 6-0.
Mathieu upsets Roddick
MONTREAL: Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu stunned third-seeded American Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the 2.45 million dollar ATP Montreal Masters Series event on Tuesday.
Roddick, who claimed his lone Grand Slam at the US Open two years ago, had won 18 of his past 20 matches, including a triumph over fellow American James Blake against a depleted field at the ATP Washington tournament on Sunday.
Results (first round)
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) bt Andy Roddick (USA) 7-5, 6-3; Florent Serra (FRA) bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 4-3 retired; Younes El-Aynaoui (MAR) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3; Robin Soderling (SWE) bt Radek Stepanek (CZE) 6-3, 6-4; Nicolas Kiefer (GER) bt Nicolas Massu (CHI) 6-3, 6-; Taylor Dent (USA) bt Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3; Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 6-1, 6-3; Jiri Novak (CZE) bt Igor Andreev (RUS) 6-4, 6-7 (1/7), 6-1; Thomas Johansson (SWE) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-1, 7-5; Rafael Nadal (ESP ) bt Carlos Moya (ESP) 6-3, 6-7 (0/7), 6-3; Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) bt Paradorn Srichaphan (THA) 7-6 (7/1), 3-6, 6-2; Xavier Malisse (BEL) bt Frank Dancevic (CAN) 6-2, 6-2;
Arnaud Clement (FRA) bt Jose Acasuso (ARG) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3; David Ferrer (ESP) bt Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2;
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) bt Guillermo Coria (ARG) 6-3, 6-2; Kenneth Carlsen (DEN) bt Rob Steckley (CAN) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
—Agencies
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