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Venus wins, Russians dominate early action
Venus Williams carved out a testy 6-4 6-4 win over qualifier Alina Jidkova, while French and U.S. Open runner-up Elena Dementieva led seven Russians into the second round of the Kremlin Cup on Tuesday.
American Williams, who was playing her first match since losing to Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round of last month's U.S. Open, showed signs of rust before sneaking through to the next round. "I had some challenging moments, she played really well, but my biggest challenge was myself," the seventh-seed said referring to her Russian opponent. "I was a bit rusty, it has been several weeks since the U.S. Open." Williams broke Jidkova for the first time in the ninth game for a 5-4 lead before clinching the opening set with a powerful ace. Williams broke again to open the second set but Jidkova battled back to level the score at 4-4 when the former world number one hit a wild forehand. However, the four-times grand slam champion broke right back to move ahead once again and then served out the match after 74 minutes. Earlier, fifth seed Dementieva overcame an inconsistent Patty Schnyder 6-2 6-3 to join the American in the top 16. Top seed Amelie Mauresmo withdrew after injuring her left thigh in Sunday's Filderstadt Grand Prix final against Davenport. American Davenport is seeded second with Russians Anastasia Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova third and fourth respectively. With the top four women getting byes into the second round, Dementieva was the highest seeded women in action on the second day of the $2.3 million ATP/WTA tournament, being staged on the fast indoor courts of the Olympic Sports Palace in Moscow for the 15th year. The blonde Russian will now take on Croatian qualifier Sandra Mamic, who brushed aside former French and Australian Open champion Mary Pierce 6-0 6-4. The Frenchwoman made 27 unforced errors and committed four double faults in a 65-minute match, while 19-year-old Mamic hit 26 winners along with eight aces.
RUSSIANS DOMINATE Aside from Jidkova's defeat, it was a good day for the Russian women as sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva and eighth-seeded Nadia Petrova, part of the ever-growing "Russian Tsunami" that is sweeping women's tennis, also advanced.
Zvonareva overwhelmed Nathalie Dechy of France 6-0 6-2 while Petrova edged Argentine Paola Suarez 7-5 6-4. They were joined in the second round by Elena Bovina, a 6-2 6-3 winner over Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, and Elena Likhovtseva, who crushed Colombian Fabiola Zuluaga 6-1 6-2. Russian men also fared well, with Mikhail Youzhny and his Davis Cup team mate Nikolay Davydenko joining top seed Marat Safin in the second round. Fifth-seeded Youzhny, hero of Russia's 2002 Davis Cup triumph, overcame two-time former Kremlin Cup winner Swiss Marc Rosset 4-6 6-3 6-2 despite being treated for a thigh injury midway through the second set. The only home-grown casualty on Tuesday was former Russian Davis Cup player Andrei Stoliarov, losing to Frenchman Cyril Saulnier 6-4 5-7 7-6. Third-seeded Slovak Dominik Hrbaty also advanced, prevailing over former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson 6-4 4-6 6-3. |
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