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AMSTERDAM, June 21: Last year's runner-up Dinara Safina beat champion Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Den Bosch Open on Wednesday. It took the Russian fourth seed almost two and a half hours to beat her unseeded Dutch opponent, serving 14 aces to Krajicek's 10.
“She served much better than I did and put pressure on me from the start,” said Krajicek, who also lost to the Russian in the first round of the Paris Open in February.
Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, 10th in the WTA rankings, reached the quarter-finals after American Meghann Shaughnessy retired in the third set.
In the men's event, Argentine third seed Guillermo Canas lost 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in his second round match to Germany's Michael Berrer, while second seed Ivan Ljubicic beat Italy's Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4.
Top seed Tommy Robredo beat Belgian Kristof Vliegen 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Men’s singles:
Second round: 1-Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3; 2-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) beat Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-3, 6-4; Peter Wessels (Netherlands) beat Carlos Berlocq (Argentina) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); Michael Berrer (Germany) beat 3-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) beat Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) 6-2, 2-6, 7-5; Benjamin Becker (Germany) beat Yves Allegro (Switzerland) 6-4, 7-6 (7-6); Antony Dupuis (France) beat Sergio Roitman (Argentina) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); Julien Benneteau (France) beat Robin Haase (Netherlands) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Women’s singles:
Second round: 1-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Meilen Tu (US) – walkover; 4-Dinara Safina (Russia) beat Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; 5-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Meghann Shaughnessy (US) 3-6, 6-3, 5-3 – Shaughnessy retired); Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Elena Vesnina (Russia) 6-3, 6-3.
NOTTINGHAM (England): Top seed Richard Gasquet stayed on course for hat-trick of titles at the Nottingham Open grasscourt tournament on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-0 demolition of Czech qualifier Jan Vacek.
The Frenchman, who turned 21 on Monday, was a class apart from his opponent as he cruised through to the third round of the Wimbledon warm-up with a flurry of flashing winners.
Gasquet will face compatriot Arnaud Clement next after the eighth seed continued his good form on grass when he beat Russia's Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.
Earlier, Russian Dmitry Tursunov ended home hope Tim Henman's mini-revival, beating the 32-year-old Briton 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 to also reach the third round.
Henman, who won just his second tour match of the year on Tuesday when he beat American Michael Russell, squandered three set points in the first set tiebreak against the powerful Tursunov but battled back to win the second set.
The 32-year-old could not stay with the second seed in the decider, however, as Tursunov, who reached the semi-final at Queen's Club last week, powered through.
Croatia's Ivo Karlovic, another dangerous player on grass, also progressed by ousting Frenchman Gilles Simon 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.
The giant Karlovic fired down 30 aces during the match.
Wednesday’s results:
Second round: 4-Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) beat Amer Delic (US) 7-5, 7-6 (7-2); 6-Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat Lee Hyung-Taik (South Korea) 7-6 (7-2), 6-0; 1-Richard Gasquet (France) beat Jan Vacek (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-0; Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) beat Gilles Simon (France) 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-4; 8-Arnaud Clement (France) beat Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3; 2-Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) beat Tim Henman (Britain) 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-2; Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) 6-2, 7-5; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) beat Sebastien Grosjean (France) 6-4, 6-3.
EASTBOURNE (England): Justine Henin began the defence of her Eastbourne International title in fine style on Wednesday, beating Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-1.
Eleven days after winning her fourth French Open title on clay, the world No 1 sailed through her first grasscourt match of the season, impressing the Devonshire Park crowd with her volleying skills.
The Belgian top seed now plays Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova, who swatted aside British qualifier Elena Baltacha 6-3 6-2 on a calm day at the normally windy seaside resort.
Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo joined Henin in the third round, looking equally at home on her favourite surface after just a few days' practice in the British Embassy grounds in Paris.
The world No 4, who last year lost in her first match here before going on to win Wimbledon, beat Italian Mara Santangelo 6-2 6-3 in 61 minutes.
Henin, who next week will set out to succeed Mauresmo at Wimbledon – the one Grand Slam title to elude her – needed just one break, in the third game, to take the first set against 18-year-old Eastbourne debutante Radwanska.
After getting a break at the start of the second set, Henin raced to a 5-1 lead and went 15-40 up. She wasted one match point by putting a backhand long but hit a winning backhand volley on the second.
Mauresmo will now face Israeli sixth seed Shahar Peer, who beat Japanese qualifier Aiko Nakamura 6-3 6-2.
Fifth seed Vaidisova is one of the grunt-and-bash brigade, staying firmly at the baseline throughout the match and hitting the ball with tremendous force and accuracy.
Austrian ninth seed Sybille Bammer had a much tougher time, needing three sets to beat Czech left-hander Lucie Safarova 7-6 5-7 6-3. She will now play Russian third seed Nadia Petrova, who beat France's Nathalie Dechy 7-5 7-5.
After Baltacha's exit, local hopes ended with Katie O'Brien losing 6-3 6-4 to fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva in a baseline slugging match and wild card Melanie South being knocked out by French number eight seed Marion Bartoli 6-1 6-3.
Wednesday’s results:
Second round: 8-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Melanie South (Britain) 6-1, 6-3; 4-Elena Dementieva (Russia) beat Katie O'Brien (Britain) 6-3, 6-4; 3-Nadia Petrova (Russia) beat Nathalie Dechy (France) 7-5, 7-5; 2-Amelie Mauresmo (France) beat Mara Santangelo (Italy) 6-2, 6-3; 6-Shahar Peer (Israel) beat Aiko Nakamura (Japan) 6-3, 6-2; 1-Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 6-4, 6-1; 9-Sybille Bammer (Austria) beat Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-3; 5-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) beat Elena Baltacha (Britain) 6-3, 6-2.—Reuters
