October 10, 2007	Wednesday	Ramazan 27, 1428

MOSCOW, Oct 9: Fifth-seed Marion Bartoli of France breezed into the second round the 2,34-million-dollar joint ATP and WTA event with a confident 6-2, 7-5 win over Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko here on Monday.

Bartoli, 23, placed 12th in the WTA rankings, looked in command from the start, breaking her opponent’s serve midway through the opening set to lift herself one set up in 27 minutes.

The opponents traded breaks throughout the second set but Bartoli was slightly more accurate, winning the set and the match in one hour 46 minutes on the second matchball.In the second round Bartoli will face Russia’s wildcard Vera Dushevina, who experienced little trouble against Eleni Danilidou of Greece clinching a 7-5, 6-1 win.

Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, seventh seed here, barely broke sweat when she ousted another Frenchwoman Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-1 in 53 minutes. The Swiss 28-year-old started confidently breaking twice in the opening set for a 1-0 lead in 32 minutes, while Loit broke back only on one occasion.

In the second Schnyder underlined her domination producing two more breaks to record her second win over Loit in as many meetings.

In the men’s section Florent Serra of France, 111th in the ATP rankings, battled back from a set down to book his pass into the second round beating the sixth seed Potito Starace of Italy 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Monday’s results (x denotes seeding):

First round:

Women’s: Marion Bartoli (FRA x5) bt Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 6-2, 7-5; Patty Schnyder (SUI x7) bt Emilie Loit (FRA) 6-4, 6-1; Vera Dushevina (RUS) bt Eleni Danilidou (GRE) 7-5, 6-1.

Men’s: Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 7-5, 6-3; Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) bt Sergio Roitman (ARG) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Florent Serra (FRA) bt Potito Starace (ITA x6) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x8) bt Justin Gimelstob (US) 6-1, 6-3.

LJUBICIC KEEPS

WINNING STREAK

VIENNA: Ivan Ljubicic, playing for the first time since reaching the Beijing semi-finals more than three weeks ago, maintained his winning streak at the BA-CA Trophy in Vienna by beating Austrian qualifier Andrea Haider-Maurer 6-4, 7-5 on Monday.

Ljubicic fired 15 aces, and after he hit an overhead into the net and was broken for 2-2 a further break for 3-2 was enough to give Ljubicic the set. A netted backhand volley from a strong return gave Ljubicic another break at 5-5 to leave him serving for the match.

Monday’s results:

Stanislas Wawrinka (SWI) bt Marc Gicquel (FRA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Stefan Koubek (AUT) bt Carlos Moya (ESP x6) 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2; Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP x8) 6-2, 6-2; Jiri Vanek (CZE) bt Roko Karanusic (CRO) 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(3); Ivan Ljubicic (CRO x3) bt Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) 6-4, 7-5.

CONFIDENCE BOOST

FOR NIEMININ

STOCKHOLM: Sixth seed Jarkko Nieminen steadied his game after a wobble last week in Asia, crushing German qualifier Tobias Kamke 6-1, 6-2 on Monday to charge into the second round of the Stockholm Open.

The flashy Finn erased memories of a second-round loss in Tokyo where he was upset by number 90 Serb Boris Pashanski.

Nienimen looked invincible on his self-proclaimed ‘home court’ at the Kungligahallen with victory in 67 minutes over Kamke, a 21-year-old ranked 254.

Spain’s Albert Montanes won his opening match over Rohan Bopanna of India 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.

Monday’s results:

First round: Filip Prpic (SWE) bt Oscar Hernandez (ESP) 6-2, 7-6(4); Jarkko Nieminen (FIN x6) bt Tobias Kamke (GER) 6-1, 6-2; Albert Montanes (ESP) bt Rohan Bopanna (IND) 7-6(5), 6-1.

WOZNIAK ADVANCES

BANGKOK: Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak beat eighth seed Ioana Raluca Olaru 7-5, 6-4 to land a spot in the second round of the Bangkok Open on Monday.

The 112th-ranked Canadian took one hour, 50 minutes to get past the Romanian, who was the only seeded player in action on Monday.

Monday’s results:

First round: Camille Pin (FRA) v Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO) 7-5, retire; Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) bt Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU) 7-5, 6-4; Casey Dellacqua (AUS) bt Severine Bremond (FRA) 6-2, 6-4; Urszula Radwanska (POL) bt Sorana Cirstea (ROM) 6-0, 6-3.—Agencies