The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Francesca Schiavone packs off Sania Mirza; Tim Henman advances at Nottingham

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Wednesday, Jun 20, 2007
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Francesca Schiavone packs off Sania Mirza; Tim Henman advances at Nottingham

The Indian loses her way after winning the first set losing serve twice in the second set and once in the third

’s-Hertogenbosch (NETHERLANDS): Sania Mirza crashed out in the first round of the Ordina Open, losing 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Francesca Schiavone of Italy in a match that lasted nearly two hours, here on Monday.

Sania’s serve was erratic throughout and she committed six double faults in all. The Indian got off to a good start, breaking Schiavone twice in the first set to win 6-3. However, things went haywire for the 20-year-old as her opponent staged a comeback.

Schiavone broke Sania twice in the second set to level the match and take it into a decider.

In the final set, Schiavone broke Sania once and also held her nerve and serve while facing five break points. She will now meet Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze in the second round.

Defending champion Michaella Krajicek beat Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-2 in another first round clash.

In the men’s event, second seed Ivan Ljubicic overcame a slow start to defeat Gael Monfils 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Vaidisova struggles

At Eastbourne, teenager Nicole Vaidisova took the long route into the second round of the Eastbourne International, needing three sets to beat Samantha Stosur.

Czech Vaidisova, the only seed in action on a low-key opening day of the grass court championships, beat the Australian 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes.

After rain over the weekend, the organisers of the $600,000 Wimbledon warm-up event had to finish off the qualifying matches on Monday before the main tournament could begin.

Happy Birthday

At Nottingham, Two-time defending champion Richard Gasquet celebrated his 21st birthday by safely moving into the second round of the Nottingham Open grass court tournament on Monday.

The French World No. 12 had few problems while beating American Vince Spadea 6-3, 6-4.

Tim Henman picked up only his second ATP tour win this year with a 6-1, 7-6(5) victory over Michael Russell. The former British number one raced into a 4-0 lead in the first set after a string of errors from the American, before comfortably clinching it 6-1.

Henman battled to hold serve at 3-3 in a scrappy second set before wrapping up the win on a tie break 7-5.

“Spadea is never easy to play against,” said Gasquet, who has a special liking for Nottingham, having won his first ATP title there on his 19th birthday. “I am really happy to get my first win here, especially on my birthday. It is a special day for me.”

It was a good day for France as Sebastien Grosjean beat the fifth-seeded Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-4 and Gilles Simon defeated Andrei Pavel 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

The results (first round):

At ’s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands) (Ordina Open):

Women: Eleni Daniilidou bt Severine Bremond 4-6, 6-1, 6-2; Francesca Schiavone bt Sania Mirza 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Elena Vesnina bt Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3; Meghann Shaughnessy bt Ksenia Lykina 6-2, 6-1; Alona Bondarenko bt Arantxa Rus 6-1, 6-1; Michaella Krajicek bt Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-2; Flavia Pennetta bt Karin Knapp 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2; Tatjana Malek bt Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 6-2.

Men: Kristof Vliegen bt Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 1-1 retd.; Peter Wessels bt Nicolas Devilder 6-4, 6-3; Antony Dupuis bt Thiemo de Bakker 7-5, 7-6(1); Andreas Seppi bt Alexander Peya 6-4, 6-4; Ivan Ljubicic bt Gael Monfils 3-6, 6-3, 6-0. < /em> Yves Allegro bt Kristian Pless 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4; Michael Berrer bt Diego Hartfield 6-3, 6-0; Guillermo Canas bt Ernests Gulbis 7-6(5), 7-5; Janko Tipsarevic bt Marc Gicquel 6-4, 6-2;Carlos Berlocq bt Juan Carlos Ferrero 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; Sergi o Roitman bt Phillip Kohlschreiber 6-2, ret. .

At Eastbourne (WTA Eastbourne International): Melanie South bt Alicia Molik 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(3); Nicole Vaidisova bt Samantha Stosur 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Lucie Safarova bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-6(0) 7-6(5). Shahar Peer bt Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 5-7, 6-4; Sybille Bammer bt Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-3; Marion Bartoli bt Tathiana Garbin 6-2, 6-3; Nathalie Dechy bt Akiko Morigami 6-4, 2-6, 6-3; Aiko Nakamura bt Aravane Rezai 6-1, 6-4; Elena Baltacha bt Anne Keothavong 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5).

At Nottingham (ATP Nottingham Open): Richard Gasquet bt Vince Spadea 6-3, 6-4; Gilles Simon bt Andrei Pavel 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Sebastien Grosjean bt Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-4. Juan Martin del Potro bt Jamie Baker 6-4, 6-2; Ivo Karlovic bt Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 7-6(3); Arnaud Clement bt Thomas Johansson 7-5, 6-2; Amer Delic bt Justin Gimelstob 6-4, 6-4; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez bt Alex Bogdanovic 6-4, 7-6(13); Tim Henman bt Michael Russell 6-1, 7-6(5). — Agencies

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