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NEW YORK, Aug 25: Eighth seed Chanda Rubin suffered a 72-minute U.S. Open ordeal on Monday, crumbling 6-4 6-4 in the first round to Venezuelan Maria Vento-Kabchi.
The American made 46 unforced errors as she struggled to keep the ball in the Arthur Ashe showcourt on a steamy New York morning.
Vento-Kabchi, ranked a lowly 84th in the world, simply kept the ball in court as Rubin all but beat herself.
Earlier on day one of the $17.1 million grand slam, Ashley Harkleroad gave home something to cheer about by racking up her first U.S Open match victory.
The teenager thumped Russian Vera Douchevina 6-4 6-2 in just 65 minutes.
FERRERO EXTENDED
Later third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero moved into the second round of the men’s singles overcoming Jan Vacek 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-2.
The French Open champion lost his way a little in the second set before refinding his range on his fizzing groundstrokes to secure the win.
The Spaniard will next meet either Jurgen Melzer of Austria or American Brian Baker.
First round results:
Women:
Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) bt Chanda Rubin (U.S.) 6-4 6-4; Vera Zvonareva (Russia) bt Lubomira Kurhajcova (Slovakia) 6-3 6-2; Nadia Petrova (Russia) bt Catalina Castano (Colombia) 6-4 6-0; Ashley Harkleroad (U.S.) bt Vera Douchevina (Russia) 6-4 6-2; Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) bt Iva Majoli (Croatia) 6-1 6-1; Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) bt Rita Grande (Italy) 6-0 7-5; Amelie Mauresmo (France) bt Angelique Widjaja (Indonesia) 6-0 6-2; Amanda Coetzer (South Africa) bt Gabriela Lastra (U.S.) 6-0 6-2; Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) bt Bea Bielik (U.S.) 6-1 6-4; Denisa Chladkova (Czech Republic) bt Adriana Serra Zanetti (Italy) 6-4 1-6 6-1
Men’s:
Fernando Verdasco (Spain) b Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-3 6-4 6-2; Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) bt Jan Vacek (Czech Republic) 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-2; Karol Kucera (Slovakia) bt Alexander Popp (Germany) 6-2 7-5 6-3.—Reuters
