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MOSCOW, Oct 13: Second seed Amelie Mauresmo was dumped from the Kremlin Cup in the second round by unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-1 6-1 on Thursday joining several other high-profile players on the sidelines of the $2.3 million tournament.
After breaking Mauresmo in the opening game and then going up 2-1, Schiavone won the next nine games before the world number four finally got on the scoreboard once again.
But there was no turning back for the seasoned Italian, who quickly wrapped up the match in the next game with an ace in just 61 minutes.
Schiavone now takes on Svetlana Kuznetsova in Friday’s quarterfinals after the 2004 U.S. Open champion overcame fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva 3-6 7-5 6-2.
Sixth-seeded Anastasia Myskina, who is gunning for a Kremlin Cup hat-trick this year after winning back-to-back titles here, beat unseeded Czech Kveta Peschke 6-0 4-6 6-3 and will face her Fed Cup team mate Elena Dementieva after the fourth seed crushed 16-year-old Bulgarian Sesil Karatancheva 6-0 6-1.
Italy’s Daniele Bracciali, who knocked out defending champion Davydenko, continued his giant-killing run with a 6-3 7-6 victory over Czech Jan Hernych.
The 95th-ranked Bracciali next faces Russia’s seventh seed Igor Andreev in the last eight.
Results:
Men second round: Andrei Pavel (ROM) bt Cyril Saulnier (FRA) 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 7-5; Daniele Bracciali (ITA) bt Jan Hernych (CZE) 6-3, 7-6 (8/6); Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) bt Paul Goldstein (USA) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) bt Filippo Volandri (ITA) 6-1, 7-6 (8/6)
Women: Elena Dementieva (RUS) bt Sesil Karatancheva (BUL) 6-0, 6-1; Dinara Safina (RUS) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS) 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4; Anastasia Myskina (RUS) bt Kveta Peschke (CZE) 6-0, 4-6, 6-3; Francesca Schiavone (ITA) bt Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) 6-1, 6-1; Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) bt Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
BANGKOK: World number nine Nadia Petrova on Thursday advanced to the quarter-finals of the PTT Thailand by defeating Japan’s Saori Obata in two straight sets, as Indian starlet Sania Mirza retired injured.
Petrova, the US$200,000 tournament’s first seed, took one hour and four minutes to triumph 6-3, 6-2 and book her quarter final spot against France’s Stephanie Foretz.
A jet-lagged Petrova said the heat and her loss of energy affected her game, and praised Obata’s tennis.
India’s rising star Sania ended her Bangkok tournament in disappointment after being forced to retire from her game against China’s Meng Yuan with a strained lower back, the Chinese winning the first set 7-5.
Sania a said she had no plans to complete in any tournaments until next year.
Czech second seed Nicole Vaidisova crashed Suchanan Viratprasert, the last remaining Thai player, out of the tournament 6-3, 6-1 after rain delayed their match for two hours.
Vaidisova will play sixth seed and Conchita Martinez, who beat Columbia’s Catalina Castano 6-2, 6-0.
Results (second round): Nadia Petrova (RUS) bt Saori Obata (JPN) 6-3, 6-2; Conchita Martinez (ESP) bt Catalina Castano (COL) 6-2, 6-0; Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) bt Suchanan Viratprasert (THA) 6-3, 6-1; Meng Yuan (CHN) bt Sania Mirza (IND) 7-5, Mirza retired with lower back Strain; Antonella Serra Zanetti (ITA) bt Melinda Czink (HUN) 6-3, 6-3
STOCKHOLM: Results from the fourth day of the Stockholm Open on Thursday:
Second round: Olivier Rochus (BE) bt Julien Benneteau (FRA) 6-4, 6-2; Paradorn Srichaphan (THA) bt Alexander Waske (GER) 6-3, 6-2; James Blake (USA) bt Christophe Rochus (BEL) 6-7 (9/11), 7-5, 6-2; Alberto Martin (ESP) bt Xavier Malisse (BEL) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4)
VIENNA: Results from the fourth day of the CA-BA Trophy on Thursday.
Second round: Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) bt Carlos Moya (ESP) 6-4, 7-5; Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt Oliver Marach (AUT) 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5; Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) bt Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 6-4, 6-4.—Agencies
