September 26, 2007	Wednesday	Ramazan 13, 1428

SEOUL, Sept 25: Top-seeded Venus Williams cruised into the second round of the Korea Open on Tuesday, defeating American qualifier Abigail Spears 6-2, 6-3.

Despite warm conditions at Seoul’s Olympic Park tennis arena, the Wimbledon champion barely broke a sweat as she used her powerful serve to dominate the match. Spears, whose right arm was heavily strapped, failed to win a single point from Williams’s first serve in the opening set.

In the second set, Williams broke again in the opening game and held off a late rally from Spears to complete a comfortable win.

“In a competition where there are few Americans, I don’t know why I played against one in the first game,” Williams said. “I was happy with my serve as it got me through some difficult moments at break points.”

In other first-round matches, defending champion No. 5 Eleni Daniilidou of Greece won a hard-fought match against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-4, 6-4; Martina Muller of Germany beat local hope Han Sung-hee 6-1, 6-0; Ahsha Rolle of the United States made short work of Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-1, 6-1 and Mathilde Johansson of France defeated Junri Namigata of Japan 7-5, 6-2.

Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn rallied from a set down to eliminate Australia’s Casey Dellacqua 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, China’s Yuan Meng defeated New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic 6-4, 6-4 and Colombian Catalina Castano beat Hseih Su-wei of Taiwan, 6-3, 6-2. Another local favorite was eliminated as Agnes Szavay of Hungary defeated South Korea’s Lee Ye-Ra 6-2, 6-3.

Williams, who won her sixth Grand Slam at Wimbledon this year, returned to the top 10 in the WTA world rankings the first time since April 2006 after reaching the US Open semi-finals.

Results:

First round: Catalina Castano (Colombia) bt Hsieh Su-Wei (Taiwan) 6-3, 6-2; Yuan Meng (China) bt Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) 6-4, 6-4; Venus Williams (US) bt Abigail Spears (US) 6-2, 6-3; Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) bt Casey Dell’Acqua (Australia) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2; Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) bt Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6-4, 6-4; Martina Mueller (Germany) bt Han Sung-Hee (South Korea) 6-1, 6-0; Ahsha Rolle (US) bt Anne Keothavong (Britain) 6-1, 6-1; Mathilde Johansson (France) bt Junri Namigata (Japan) 7-5, 6-2.

Karlovic advaNces

to next round

BANGKOK: Seventh seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia advanced to the second round of the Thailand Open after a comfortable 7-6, 6-3 victory over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez on Tuesday.

The 6 ft 10 ins (2.08m) Croat relied on his powerful serves to get past the 48th-ranked Spaniard, blasting 23 aces during the one hour, 11-minute contest.

“I’m happy with my game today, especially my service games,” said Karlovic, who won 38 out of 40 points with his lethal first serve.

“It was quite difficult to return his serve because he’s a good server, but I did well and broke him twice, I’m happy with that,” he told reporters.

In other matches, Germany’s Mischa Zverev, who reached his first career quarter-final here last year, beat Michael Russell 6-4 3-6 6-1, German Dominik Meffert defeated Amer Delic of the United States 7-5 6-1 and Frenchman Michael Llodra saw off Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6 7-5.

Top seed Novak Djorkovic pulled out of the $550,000 tournament on Tuesday with a back injury sustained during Serbia’s 4-1 Davis Cup win over Australia at the weekend.

Second seed American Andy Roddick, Czech Tomas Berdych and Tommy Haas of Germany are due to play their first round matches on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, top seed Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Thailand Open on Tuesday with a back injury, organisers said.

The world number three sustained the injury during Serbia’s Davis Cup victory over Australia at the weekend, a win which sent them through to the elite world group for the first time.

Djokovic, US Open runner-up to Roger Federer earlier this month, is the second seed to pull out of the $550,000 event.

World number two Rafael Nadal of Spain withdrew on Sunday with a knee injury.

Results:

First round: Benjamin Becker (Germany) bt Carlos Moya (Spain) 7-6 (5), 6-4; Frank Dancevic (Canada) bt Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4); Nicolas Mahut (France) bt Zack Fleishman (US) 7-5, 6-2; Michael Llodra (France) bt Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) 7-6 (2), 7-5; Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) bt Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 7-6 (2), 6-3; Mischa Zverev (Germany) bt Michael Russell (US) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; Dominik Meffert (Germany) bt Amer Delic (US) 7-5, 6-1.

Wildcard Kiefer stuns Mathieu

MUMBAI: German wildcard Nicolas Kiefer saw off third-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-3 in the first round of the Mumbai Open on Tuesday.

Up a break at 4-3 on Monday, before rain forced a premature end to play for the day on the outdoor hardcourts, the former world number four wrapped up the match in another 48 minutes.

“It was not easy, started yesterday, rained, and continued today,” Kiefer told a news conference. “He is a tough opponent.

“It’s very humid here and takes time for one to adjust.”

Ranked 130, the 30-year-old Kiefer, who missed the second half of last season due to two wrist operations, broke the 24th-ranked Frenchman in the seventh and ninth games of the second set to seal the match.

Fifth seed Fabrice Santoro beat fellow Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1 6-2 in another first round match that was interrupted by rain.

German Rainer Schuettler, who had won the opening set 7-5 against French seventh seed Julien Benneteau on Monday, completed unfinished business, winning the second set 6-3 in their first round match.

Results:

First round: Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 6-4, 6-3; Fabrice Santoro (France) bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) 6-1, 6-2; Rainer Schuettler (Germany) bt Julien Benneteau (France) 7-5, 6-3.—Agencies