July 19, 2006	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 22, 1427

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CINCINNATI, July 18: Top seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland opened the defence of her Cincinnati Open crown on Monday with a shaky 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 comeback win over American Lilia Osterloh.

The Swiss trailed 4-1 in the third set and faced a match point before rallying to claim victory in the tie-break 7-1.

In other first-round action, fourth seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia was handed a walkover when Hungary's Melinda Czink was forced out with a shoulder strain.

Finland's Emma Laine breezed past Austria's Sybille Bammer 6-3, 6-1 while Amy Frazier prevailed in an all-American showdown over wildcard Jessica Kirkland 6-3, 6-4.

Former world number one Serena Williams was slated to make her long awaited return on Tuesday following a lengthy injury layoff.

Monday’s results:

First round: Amy Frazier (US) beat Jessica Kirkland (US) 6-3, 6-4; 1-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat Lilia Osterloh (US) 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1); Emma Laine (Finland) beat Sybille Bammer (Austria) 6-3, 6-1.

QUERREY ADVANCES INDIANAPOLIS: American teenager Sam Querrey battled to a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 win over Serb Janko Tipsarevic in the first round of the Indianapolis RCA Championships on Monday.

The 18-year-old Querrey, winner of two entry-level Challenger titles on cement in 2006, continued his steady improvement after reaching the second round on grass in Newport last week.

With all 16 seeds given first-round byes, other winners on opening day included American Jeff Morrison, who defeated Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico 6-2, 6-2.

Chile's Paul Capdeville crushed German Tomas Behrend 6-2, 6-0 and Alejandro Falla of Colombia ousted Frenchman Jean-Christophe Faurel 6-4, 6-2.Thailand's Danai Udomchoke, entered along with compatriot Paradorn Srichaphan, started with victory over Czech Tomas Cakl 6-2, 6-2.

Results:

First round: Ramon Delgado (Paraguay) beat Amer Delic (US) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); Ricardo Mello (Brazil) beat Jean-Rene Lisnard (Monaco) 7-5, 7-5; Razvan Sabau (Romania) beat Yen-Hsun Lu (Taiwan) 6-3, 6-4; Sam Querrey (US) beat Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia and Montenegro) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4; Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) beat Tomas Cakl (Czech Republic) 6-2, 6-2; Alejandro Falla (Colombia) beat Jean-Christophe Faurel (France) 6-4, 6-2; Paul Capdeville (Chile) beat Tomas Behrend (Germany) 6-2, 6-0; Jeff Morrison (US) beat Santiago Gonzalez (Mexico) 6-2, 6-2.—Reuters