The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sania crashes out; Venus has it easy

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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Sania crashes out; Venus has it easy

Ivan Ljubicic advances after a tight match

— Photo: AP

TAKE THAT! Venus Williams rifles a return against Tatiana Poutchek

Istanbul: Eighth seed Sania Mirza crashed out of the Istanbul Cup tennis tournament after a 6-4, 6-3 defeat in the first round at the hands of American Meghann Shaughnessy on Tuesday. In another match fourth-seeded Venus Williams beat Tatiana Poutchek 6-1, 6-2.

Ivan Ljubicic defeated Amer Delic in a tight match to advance to the second round of the Hypo Group International.

In a match dominated by strong serves — Ljubicic had 14 aces, Delic 16 — both players held throughout the first set to go into a tie-breaker. Ljubicic missed two set points at 6-4 and Delic missed one at 6-7, before the Croatian converted his third chance.

Ljubicic trailed 5-2 in the second set but rallied to force a second tie-breaker. Delic failed to convert two set points before Ljubicic won on his second match point.

The results: At Poertschach (Hypo Group International): First round: Juan Monaco bt Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1; Luis Horna bt Oleg Dolgopolov Jr. 6-3, 6-0; Potito Starace bt Stefan Koubek 6-4, 6-4; Ivan Ljubicic bt Amer Delic 7-6(7), 7-6(8); Gael Monfils bt Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-5; Nikolay Davydenko bt Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 6-0; Juan Monaco bt Juergen Melzer 6-3, 6-1.

At Strasbourg (Strasbourg International): First round: Maria Elena Camerin bt Nicole Pratt 6-4, 7-6(3); Lilia Osterloh bt Eva Birnerova 6-0, 6-2; Aiko Nakamura bt Stéphanie Dubois 6-1, 3-6, 6-4; Tamarine Tanasugarn bt Sun Shengnan 6-4, 6-2; Marion Bartoli bt Nicole Kriz 6-1, 6-0; Alicia Molik bt Leanne Baker 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(5).

At Istanbul (Istanbul Cup): Second round: Maria Sharapova bt Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 7-6(1). First round: Patty Schnyder bt Chan Yung-Jan 6-1, 6-1; Meghann Shaughnessy bt Sania Mirza 6-4, 6-3; Vania King bt Ipek Senoglu 6-3, 7-5; Venus Williams bt Tatiana Poutchek 6-1, 6-2; Ekaterina Afinogenova bt Sandra Kloesel 6-3, 5-7, 6-3; Ekaterina Dzehalevich bt Anna Tatishvili 6-3, 7-5; Tzvetana Pironkova bt Olga Govortsova 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; Romina Oprandi bt Katerina Bondarenko 6-4, 6-4; Agnieska Radwanska bt Ekaterina Bychkova 7-5, 7-5; Aravane Rezai bt Tzipora Obziler 6-3, 6-1; Alona Bondarenko bt Pemra Ozgen 6-1, 6-0; Jelena Kostanic Tosic bt Yaroslava Shvedova 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. — Agencies

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