Date:13/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/13/stories/2009011360731800.htm

Sport

Safina eases past Cirstea

Sania-Schiavone pair into the last eight at Hobart

SYDNEY: Second-seeded Dinara Safina continued her tune-up for the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-1 win on Monday over Sorana Cirstea of Romania at the Sydney International.

Playing her first WTA tournament of the year after teaming with her brother, Marat Safin, to represent Russia at the Hopman Cup last week, Safina took advantage of five double faults by Cirstea to advance to the second round after the 58-minute match at Ken Rosewall Arena.

Safina said despite the score, Cirstea had pushed her to play a more aggressive game.

“She goes for the shots, so I had to avoid this,” Safina said. “I had to be much more aggressive, as she is. I think I did this pretty well today.”

Safina said she appreciated the pre-Grand Slam practice she was getting at the Hopman Cup and Sydney. The Australian Open begins next Monday in Melbourne.

There were two illness-related pullouts and one injury retirement on Monday. Fourth-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia withdrew with a stomach ailment and Victoria Azarenka, who won the Brisbane International title on Saturday, pulled out of her first-round match with a virus.

In first-round men’s play at the joint ATP-WTA event, seventh-seeded Tommy Robredo, a former Australian Open quarterfinalist, beat Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-4 and Michael Llodra of France defeated Denis Gremelmayr of Germany 6-0, 6-2.

Radwanska advances

At Hobart, Poland’s Urszula Radwanska continued her recent strong form against higher-ranked players, beating sixth-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 on Monday at the Hobart International.

In the doubles event, Sania Mirza and her Italian partner Francesca Schiavone reached the quarterfinals with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Latvia’s Liga Dekmeijre and Turkey’s Ipek Senoglu in the first round.

Querrey posts win

At Auckland, Sam Querrey and Robby Ginepri of the United States beat New Zealand wildcard opponents on Monday to reach the second round of the Heineken Open.

The results:

At Sydney: Sydney International:

Men: First round: Tommy Robredo bt Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-4; Michael Llodra bt Denis Gremelmayr 6-0, 6-2; Jarkko Nieminen bt Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 7-6(9); Simone Bolelli bt Potito Starace 7-6(1), 6-4; Igor Andreev bt Frank Dancevic 7-6(2), 6-3; Mario Ancic bt Xavier Malisse 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.

Women: First round: Caroline Wozniacki bt Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-2; Alize Cornet bt Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-4; Kaia Kanepi bt Angelique Kerber 6-1, 7-5; Alisa Kleybanova bt Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-2; Elena Dementieva bt Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-1; Vera Dushevina bt Emelyn Starr 6-0, 6-1; Melanie South bt Marion Bartoli 1-1 (retd.); Dinara Safina bt Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-1; Ai Sugiyama bt Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-3; Daniela Hantuchova bt Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-0; Anabel Medina bt Anastasiya Yakimovai 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

At Hobart: Hobart International: First round: Urszula Radwanska bt Aleksandra Wozniak 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5; Mara Santangelo bt Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 6-1; Anne Keothavong bt Agnes Szavay 6-3, 7-5; Gisela Dulko bt Stefanie Voegele 6-2, 6-3; Carla Suarez Navarro bt Anna Chakvetadze 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-5; Melinda Czink bt Tathiana Garbin 6-2, 1-6, 7-5.

At Auckland: Heineken Open: First round: Sam Querrey bt Dan King-Turner 6-4, 7-5; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Kei Nishikori 5-3 (retd.); Robby Ginepri bt Rubin Statham 6-2, 6-3; Viktor Troicki bt Igor Kunitsyn 6-1, 6-2. — Agencies