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Wozniacki breezes past Dementieva

Bhupathi and Mirnyi book last-eight berth in Open Sud de France

— PHOTO: AP

EASY RIDE:Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki got off to a great start, thrashing Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-1 in the WTA Championship in Doha on Tuesday.

DOHA: Caroline Wozniacki crushed Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Championships on Tuesday to serve up a timely reminder to critics of her World No. 1 ranking.

Wozniacki blasted away from the baseline while Russian Dementieva could offer little in return, the Dane wrapping up the Maroon Group opener in 53 minutes at the Khalifa Tennis Complex.

In the White Group, World No. 2 Vera Zvonareva powered past a lethargic Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-0 to keep alive her slender hopes of grabbing the year-end number one spot from Wozniacki.

In the day's last match, Australian Sam Stosur beat Francesca Schiavone to gain a measure of revenge for her defeat in the French Open final in June.

Italy's Schiavone had raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set, but Stosur battled back to win 6-4, 6-4.

Nice start

“A very nice start, definitely,” Wozniacki said in a media conference after brushing aside Dementieva.

“I'm very happy to be through. It's always tough to start a new tournament. Against Elena, we have had so many tough matches in the past. It's nice to get this one.”

Wozniacki whizzed through the first set, Dementieva bewildered by the Dane's shot-making skills and her own inability to keep the ball in play.

The second set proved just as painful for the Russian, who is making her 10th appearance at the WTA Championships.

Wozniacki painted the lines with pinpoint passing shots and pressed the power button when Dementieva tried to trade blows from the baseline.

The Russian admitted her gameplan of bringing Wozniacki to the net with drop shots had backfired.

“I wanted to take her out of the comfort zone. She's feeling very solid at the baseline," said the 29-year-old Dementieva.

“For sure it was not a very good selection of shots to do it every single point. I just feel like I was not focused on the game today.”

Top seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi booked a last-eight berth in the Open Sud de France with a 7-6(3) 7-6(3) win over Brian Battistone and Andreas Siljestrom.

The results: At Doha: WTA Championships: Maroon group: Caroline Wozniacki bt Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-1; Samantha Stosur bt Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4. White group: Vera Zvonareva, Russia, bt Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, 6-3, 6-0.

At Vienna (Bank Austria Tennis Trophy): First round: Bjorn Phau bt Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-4; Andreas Haider-Maurer bt Thomas Muster 6-2, 7-6(5); Grega Zemlja bt Marsel Ilhan 4-6, 6-1, 7-5; Juan Chela bt Andrej Martin 6-3, 6-3; Tobias Kamke bt Matthias Bachinger 6-4, 6-4.

At Montpellier (Open Sud de France): Adrian Mannarino bt Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4. John Isner bt Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-2; David Nalbandian bt Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-4; Michael Llodra bt Olivier Rochus 2-3 (retd). Doubles: Mahesh Bhupathi & Max Mirnyi bt Brian Battistone & Andreas Siljestrom 7-6(3) 7-6(3).

At St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg Open): First round: Lu Yen-Hsun bt Potito Starace 6-2, 6-2; Benjamin Becker bt Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. bt Fabio Fognini 7-6(/5), 6-4; Rainer Schuettler bt Viktor Troicki 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 . — Agencies

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