Fifth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy easily downed countrywoman Mara Santangelo 6-2, 6-0 Tuesday to earn a place in the second round of the US$170,000 Gaz de France Stars.
The other two seeds in action, sixth-seeded Silvia Farina Elia of Italy and seventh-seeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, also won.
PHOTO: AP
Former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters is set to make her comeback from a five-month injury layoff Wednesday after receiving a first round bye in the tournament, which is being held near her hometown in eastern Belgium.
Clijsters is seeded second behind US Open finalist Elena Dementieva of Russia, who also starts on Wednesday. Clijsters will face Benesova, while Dementieva takes on Pastikova.
Clijsters has been off the circuit since May when a wrist injury forced her to withdraw from the German Open in Berlin. She needed surgery to repair a torn tendon and failed to be fit in time for the US Open.
The layoff has seen the Belgian's ranking fall to seventh, after she reached No. 1 in August last year.
Palermo
Italy's top player Filippo Volandri cruised past Albert Montanes of Spain 6-2, 6-3 in the Campionati Internazionali di Sicilia in Palermo, Sicily.
Fifth-seeded Volandri, who won his first ATP title at St. Poelten in May, beat Montanes in Bucharest's first round two weeks ago.
Sixth-seeded Rafael Nadal, fresh from leading Spain into the Davis Cup final last weekend, beat countryman Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 7-5.
The other two seeds in action also advanced in the year's final ATP event on clay.
No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia ousted Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2, 7-5, while No. 7 David Ferrer defeated Spanish countryman Alberto Martin 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Qualifier Alessio Di Mauro couldn't clinch an all-Italian second-round match against Volandri when he lost to Spain's Galo Blanco 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
However, Italian wild card Andreas Seppi defeated 1999 champion Arnaud Di Pasquale of France 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4, and drew in the second round Kristof Vliegen of Belgium, who easily beat Argentine qualifier Mariano Puerta 6-1, 6-2.
Korean Open
Samantha Stosur of Australia cruised past Russia's Galina Voskoboeva 6-2, 6-4 Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals.
Stosur will next face the winner of the second-round bout between Japan's Miho Saeki and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova.
Saeki and Sharapova did not play on Wednesday when five of the eight quarterfinalists were decided, including American Abigail Spears, who beat second-seeded Shinobu Asagoe of Japan 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Sanda Mamic of Croatia earned a close fought 7-5, 6-4 win over Catalina Castano of Colombia, while fellow Croatian Silvija Talaja rallied to beat Japan's Yuka Yoshida 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Poland's Marta Domachowska defeated Chuang Chia-jung of Taiwan 7-5, 6-1. She will face Talaja in the quarterfinals.
Shanghai Open
Jiri Novak's luck continued Wednesday as he advanced to the second round of the ATP Shanghai Open on an easy day for the remaining top seeds.
The second-seeded Czech barely broke as he deftly eliminated Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun, 6-2, 6-2.
Lanky Finn Jarkko Nieminen, the tournament's sixth seed, had a tougher time, going three sets against Germany's Bjorn Phau before bagging the 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.
Top seed Juan Carlos Ferrera canceled his appearance at the US$380,000 tournament due to injury and fourth seeded Philippoussis saw his woeful season continue when he was ousted on Tuesday by unheralded American Glenn Weiner.
Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia-Montenegro, defeated Jon Van Lottum of the Netherlands.
Thailand Open
Former world No 1 Marat Safin stormed into the second round yesterday with a confident 6-2, 6-3 win over Israel's Noam Okun.
Only three days after spearheading Russia to a 5-0 Davis Cup whitewash of Thailand in Moscow, the third-seeded Safin used his powerful backcourt game to beat Okun in just 66 minutes at Impact Arena.
Safin kept the pressure on Okun the entire match and sealed the first set with a 180kph ace.
The Russian dominated the second set with his superior groundstrokes and got an early break in the first game to lead 4-2. Despite a spirited defense, Safin punished Okun's serve to take the match.
The Czech Republic's Jiri Vanek rallied from a slow start to beat Danai Udomchoke of Thailand 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. No. 8 Robin Soderling of Sweden advanced in comfortable fashion, beating Israel's Harel Levy 6-3, 6-4, while Chile's Adrian Garcia beat Satoshi Iwabuchi of Japan 7-6 (5), 6-3.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely