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Chinese stars boss opening round opponents
CARSON, California: A pair of Chinese players put on impressive performances in the first round action on the second day of the US$585,000 JPMorgan Chase Open on Tuesday. Peng Shuai, of Hunan, breezed past Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 and Beijing's Sun Tiantian destroyed Maria Fernanda Alves of Brazil 6-0, 6-1 to reach the second round of the hardcourt tournament at the Home Depot Center in south central Los Angeles. The 19-year-old Peng upset Elena Dementieva and former world No 1 Kim Clijsters before falling to eventual champion Mary Pierce in the semi-finals at last week's WTA San Diego tournament. Last year, Peng, who turned pro in 2001, reached two WTA quarter-finals in Guangzhou and Cincinnati. Earlier in the day, Varvara Lepchenko became the first player to advance to the third round after the native of Uzbekistan bounced fellow lucky loser Silvija Talaja of Croatia, 6-4, 6-2. In the other second round matches on Tuesday, top seed Maria Sharapova struggled to shake off the rust in defeating Russian compatriot Maria Kirilenko in an error-filled 7-6 (9/7), 6-2, second-round victory. Sharapova had not played since a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon. She was forced out of the Acura Classic in San Diego last week with a strained lower back. Even though Sharapova prevailed in the first meeting with Kirilenko the rustiness was evident in a sloppy played 67-minute opening set. Sharapova is in position to replace Lindsay Davenport atop the WTA Tour singles rankings as she could become the 15th No 1 in history with a semi-final finish or better. Also on Tuesday, Daniilidou of Greece eliminated qualifier Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina, 7-6 (7-2) 7-5; Jill Craybas ousted Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3; and Croatian Karolina Sprem edged qualifier Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11). Czech Iveta Benesova utilized a service break in the final game to get past rising Indian teenager Sania Mirza, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, and qualifier Tathiana Garbin of Italy quashed Bethanie Mattek of the US, 6-4, 6-2. The tournament has a weak field following the withdrawal of defending champion Davenport (lower back) and Serena Williams (ankle) to injuries. Vera Zvonareva (left ankle sprain) and fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva (upset stomach) were forced to pull out as well. Russian women now hold the top four seeds: Sharapova, reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, two-time Grand Slam finalist Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova, respectively. Belgian Kim Clijsters, the 2003 champion here, is seeded fifth, followed by on fire Mary Pierce of France. On Monday, No 10 seed Flavia Pennetta and No 11 Shinobu Asagoe were eliminated. Hewitt pulled off Australia's Lleyton Hewitt withdrew from the Montreal Masters on Tuesday when a stomach upset forced the world No 3 to retire from his first round match against Frenchman Florent Serra. The 24-year-old second seed was trailing 4-3 in the opening set when he decided he could no longer continue. "I've had some kind of stomach virus for the last few days," said Hewitt, who was playing in his first event since a Davis Cup tie in mid-July. "It just got worse and worse. "I haven't been able to eat anything the last three or four days. "With the heat today, it just felt like I had nothing out there." Hewitt's retirement is only his second in 504 career singles starts and the first since July 30, 1999. Serra now goes on to meet Croatia's Mario Ancic in the second round. Two other seeds also lost in early Tuesday play, No 13 Ivan Ljubicic and No 14 Radek Stepanek. Ljubicic lost 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 to American Taylor Dent, who'd lost their last meeting at the Athens Olympics, while Stepanek was ousted by Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-3, 6-4. No 12-seeded Thomas Johansson cut down big-serving Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-1, 7-5, and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany beat Nicolas Massu of Chile 6-3, 6-2. Massu has yet to win at the Rogers Cup in three appearances.
(China Daily 08/11/2005 page15)
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