The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Hantuchova begins well

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Hantuchova begins well

— Photo: AP

IN THE HUNT: Daniela Hantuchova began her quest for her first WTA title beating Olga Savchuk in the Bali Open tournament.

NUSA DUA (Indonesia): Top-seeded Daniela Hantuchova launched her quest for a first career WTA title at the Bali Open on Wednesday with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Ukrainian Olga Savchuk.

The 25-year-old Slovakian, currently ranked 11th in the world, is hoping to go one step further than she did here last year, when she lost in the final to former number one Lindsay Davenport, who was launching her comeback.

Spirited fight

Hantuchova won the first set easily, but the 121st-ranked Savchuk mounted a spirited fight in the second set.

Savchuk broke Hantuchova with a passing shot winner for a 4-2 lead, but the Slovakian broke back in the following game, and sealed the victory on her second matchpoint.

Hantuchova is trying to salvage her 2008 season after suffering a stress fracture in her right heel two months before Wimbledon.

Her win on Wednesday was only her fourth since the start of the grass-court season, and comes after a first-round loss at the U.S. Open against German Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Poland’s Marta Domachowska booked the first of the quarterfinal places in Bali with a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4 win over U.S. veteran Jill Craybas.

The results:

At Nusa Dua: WTA Bali Open: Second round: Daniela Hantuchova bt Olga Savchuk 6-1, 7-5; Marta Domachowska bt Jill Craybas 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4; Francesca Schiavone bt Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3, 6-2; Patty Schnyder bt Meng Yuan 6-2, 7-5.

At Bucharest:

BCR Open: Second round: Florent Serra bt Potito Starace 7-5, 0-6, 6-4; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez bt Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-5; Carlos Moya bt Pablo Andujar 6-3, 7-6(6).

First round: Ivan Navarro bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3. — Agencies

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