The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Radwanska suffers Kremlin Cup upset

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Radwanska suffers Kremlin Cup upset

MOSCOW: Maria Kirilenko of Russia upset third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday in the first round of the Kremlin Cup.

The result means only two players — Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Vera Zvonareva of Russia — remain in contention for the last spot for next week’s season-ending WTA Championships in Doha.

Jankovic is five points ahead of Zvonareva in the battle for a berth. Both players advanced on Tuesday to the second round.

Kirilenko, ranked 61st, opened with a break and saved four break points in the eighth game. The 10th-ranked Radwanska then dropped serve again to lose the first set, and called for a trainer afterward to treat her left thigh that was taped pre-match.

Radwanska said it hurt when “moving, jumping on the left leg after the serve, or trying to hit low balls.”

“I was trying because I was still in with a chance of qualifying for Doha,” Radwanska said.

Kirilenko broke decisively in the second game of the second set. She saved a break point in the seventh game before securing her first win in five appearances at her home town tournament.

“It’s nice to beat a seeded player in the first round,” said Kirilenko, who also ousted Radwanska in the second round of the U.S. Open. “I remembered how to play against her and it helped me a lot today.”

Radwanska may still go to Doha as an alternate

Haas, Lopez advance

Tommy Haas and Feliciano Lopez put aside last week’s injury dramas in Asia as the pair of seeds returned to apparent robust health with wins into the second round of the Stockholm Open Wednesday.

No.2 Haas and the eighth-ranked Lopez both secured straight-set success at the Kungligahallen with neither man requiring more than an hour on court.

Haas, who withdrew after one losing set against Rainer Schuettler last week in the Shanghai second round, showed perfect fitness as he crushed 17 aces in 55 minutes in his 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Frenchman Florent Serra.

Lopez, seeded eighth, moved through nicely four days after pulling up lame in the Shanghai semis to hand Rafael Nadal a 6-1, 3-0 result, and was light on his feet in a defeat of Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 6-4.

Haas will next face Jarkko Nieminen, back in action after a wrist injury which kept the Finn away for nearly four months.

The results: At Stockholm (Stockholm Open): Second round: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez bt Simon Greul 6-3, 7-5. First round: Feliciano Lopez bt Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 6-4; 2-Tommy Haas bt Florent Serra 6-3 6-4.

At Luxembourg (Luxembourg Open): Second round: Kirsten Flipkens bt Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-5, 6-3; Timea Bacsinszky bt Roberta Vinci 6-2, 6-2. First round: Lucie Hradecka bt Catalina Castano 7-6(4), 6-2.

At Moscow (Kremlin Cup): Women: First round: Francesca Schiavone bt Nuria Llagostera 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3; Agnes Szavay bt Flavia Pennetta 4-6, 3-0 retd.; Maria Kirilenko bt Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-3; Evgeniya Rodina bt Elena Vesnina 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. Men: Second round: Mikhail Youzhny bt Potito Starace 6-1, 6-1; Pablo Cuevas bt Teimuraz Gabashvili 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. First round: Evgeny Korolev bt Igor Kunitsyn 7-6(6), 6-3; Illya Marchenko bt Denis Istomin 1-6, 6-4, 4-1 retd. — Agencies

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