Date:08/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/08/stories/2008100856101900.htm

Sport - Tennis

Mauresmo rallies past Cornet

MOSCOW: Former runner-up Amelie Mauresmo rallied to beat Alize Cornet 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Kremlin Cup. In the men’s draw, second-seeded Igor Andreev advanced when Taiwan’s Yen-hsun Lu retired with a right ankle injury after losing the first set 6-2.

Mauresmo, a finalist in 2003 — long before 18-year-old Cornet turned pro, rallied from a break down in the second set, winning four games in a row to even their match.

In the third, Mauresmo led 2-0 and but Cornet recovered to 3-3. Mauresmo won nine consecutive points and served out her third consecutive win over Cornet, who has reached three finals this year and won one. Mauresmo will face second-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia in the next round of the dual WTA & ATP tournament.

The results (first round): In Moscow (Kremlin Cup): Men: Viktor Troicki bt Evgeny Donskoy 6-1, 6-3; Janko Tipsarevic bt Alexandre Kudryavtsev 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6); Dudi Sela bt Victor Hanescu 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Julien Benneteau bt Harel Levi 6-4, 6-3; Denis Istomin bt Michael Llodra 7-6(2), 6-3; Jeremy Chadry bt Potito Starace 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez bt Nicolas Devilder 6-2, 6-4; Fabrice Santoro bt Yury Schukin 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4; Igor Andreev bt Yen-Hsun Lu 6-2, retired.

Women: Vera Zvonareva bt Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-4; Katarina Srebotnik bt Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1; Ekaterina Makarova bt Elena Vesnina 7-6(4), 7-6(1); Rasa Errani bt Victoria Azarenka 1-6, 6-4, 6-3; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Na Li 6-4, 7-5; Amelie Mauresmo bt Alize Cornet 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4; Dominika Cibulkova bt Marion Bartoli 6-1, 4-1 retired; Vera Dushevina bt Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

In Stockholm (Stockholm Open): Rainier Schuttler bt Chris Guccione 6-0, 6-3; Kei Nishikori bt Marcel Granollers 2-6, 6-4, 6-2; Nicolas Lapentti bt Ivan Navarro 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-5; Dominik Hrbaty bt Pablo Andujar 6-2, 6-1.

In Vienna (Bank Austria Trophy): Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Marc Gicquel 6-2, 6-2; Carlos Moya bt Michael Berrer 7-6(5), 7-6(6); Feliciano Lopez bt Agustin Calleri 7-6(2), 7-6(4); Juan Carlos Ferrero bt 4-Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6(4); Jan Hernych bt Roko Karanusic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5); Guillermo Canas bt Andreas Seppi 7-6(2), 6-3; Fernando Verdasco bt Victor Crivoi 6-4, 6-4. — Agencies