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LINZ (Austria), Oct 26: Second seed Elena Dementieva slumped to a 6-3 7-5 defeat by Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic in the second round of the Linz Open on Wednesday.
After her defeat the Russian said she had given up any hope of qualifying for the season-ending WTA Championships in Los Angeles next month.
Russian fifth seed Elena Likhovtseva was also beaten 6-1 4-6 7-5 by Ai Sugiyama of Japan after looking at one stage as if she might not be able to finish the match.
Results (first round): Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) bt Barbara Strycova (CZE) 6-1, 6-2; Ai Sugiyama (JPN) bt Jelena Lichowczewa (RUS) 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
Quarterfinals: Kveta Peschke (CZE) bt Jelena Dementjewa (RUS) 6-3, 7-5
BASEL (Switzerland): Guillermo Coria took a step closer to a place at next month’s Masters Cup with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Alberto Martin in the first round of the 829,000-euro Swiss Indoors on Wednesday.
The top seed from Argentina admitted that booking a spot in the elite eight-man field in Shanghai, which begins Nov 13, is top of his thoughts.
Results men’s singles (first round): Andy Murray (Britain) bt Tim Henman (Britain) 6-2 5-7 7-6(4); Agustin Calleri (Argentina) bt Razvan Sabau (Romania) 6-0 6-3; Guillermo Coria (Argentina) bt Alberto Martin (Spain) 6-2 6-4; Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) bt Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 7-6(7) 6-2
LYON (France): Ivan Ljubicic’s hopes of qualifying for the Masters Cup suffered a blow when he lost 7-6 7-5 to American Vince Spadea in the first round of the Lyon indoor tournament on Wednesday.
The Croatian fourth seed said he was still feeling exhausted after his five-set defeat by Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the final of the Madrid Masters on Sunday.
Results men’s singles (first round): Fabrice Santoro (France) bt Taylor Dent (United States) 6-3 7-5; Vince Spadea (United States) bt Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 7-6(5) 7-5
SAINT PETERSBURG (Moscow): Results from the third day of the one-million-dollar Saint Petersburg Open ATP tennis tournament here on Wednesday.
First round: Paul Goldstein (USA) bt Lars Burgsmuller (GER) 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 6-3
Second round: Kenneth Carlsen (DEN) bt Sergei Stakhovski (UKR) 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (8/6).—Agencies
