It was a mixed day for seeded players at the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday as the first round wrapped up and the second round kicked off at the prestigious 1.34 million U.S. dollars event.
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Serb Ana Ivanovic plays back at the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday. Ivanovic lost to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 1-2 Wednesday. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
Among the upset victims was Serb Ana Ivanovic, whose dismal second half of 2008 continued with a loss to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
Ivanovic, who won her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in June and subsequently rose to No.1 in the world, had won only five matches in her five events since, losing early at Wimbledon, Montreal, the U.S. Open, Tokyo and Beijing.
"I really enjoyed playing out there, the crowd was really supportive, and I hope to be out there again next year," Ivanovic said. "I'm healthy, enjoying my time on the court and just happy to be back competing. I'm just trying to get as many matches as I can, it'll take to get back to my best."
Cibulkova, unseeded at the Kremlin Cup, nearly fell to the No.4seed, falling behind 15-40 while serving to stay in the match at 4- 5 in the third set. But she hung tough and took the match in a tie- break.
It was her fifth top 10 win of the year (and her career), following previous wins over Venus Williams, Anna Chakvetadze, Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic.
"I knew she was a tough opponent coming in, she played really well when it counted," Ivanovic said. "I felt like I was playing better and better as the match was going on, but she played some great shots when I had match points. I'm taking the positives from this match, though, so I can't be disappointed."
Elsewhere, No.3 seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia outrallied Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), and fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova had to wait out 12 close games before taking complete control over Italian Sara Errani in the first set tie- break to prevail in straights, 7-6(0), 6-1.
There was also win for No.2 seed Dinara Safina who beat French veteran Amelie Mauresmo 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4.
(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2008)