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Hewitt advances to third round

Maria Sharapova of Russia in action against Australia's Samantha Stosur during the third day of Japan Open Tennis, Wednesday. Sarapova won the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. PHOTO: EPA

Top seeded Lleyton Hewitt rallied to a 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 win over Japan's Gouichi Motomura yesterday in the second round of the Japan Open.

Hewitt dropped the second set, but dominated the deciding third to eliminate wild card Motomura at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum.

"I was in total command in the first set," said Hewitt. "He made a few points in the second set and got some momentum but I still felt like I was control."

Hewitt, the 2001 Japan Open champion, was playing in his first match in more than a week and said his game will need some fine tuning.

Hewitt, ranked No. 3 in the world, will face Japan's Takao Suzuki in the third round. Suzuki was a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-5 winner over 15th-seeded Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic.

In other men's matches, No. 7 American Taylor Dent downed Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4, while eighth-seeded Thomas Johansson of Sweden defeated Justin Gimelstob of the US 6-4, 6-4. Gilles Muller of Luxembourg beat Alex Bogomolov Jr. of the US, 6-3, 6-1.

Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic upset second-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, while Mashona Washington of the US cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over fourth-seeded Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rico.

Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand beat Jill Craybas of the US, 6-3, 7-6 (2), while Youlia Fedossova of France beat Akiko Morigami, Japan 6-3, 7-6 (2).

Later yesterday, Argentina's David Nalbandian met Wang Yeu-tzuoo of Taiwan, while Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova faced Australia's Samantha Stosur in the late women's match.

Tournament organizers finally got a break with the weather Wednesday and were able to open the roof at Ariake. The first two days of the tournament were disrupted by heavy rain.

Porsche Grand Prix

Elena Likhovtseva upset sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-5 at the Porsche Grand Prix Tuesday, helped by 13 double faults from her fellow Russian.

Likhovtseva advanced into the second round of the US$650,000, where five of the world's top six-ranked players are entered led by Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsay Davenport.

Zvonareva, ranked 11th, suffered a setback in her effort to join four of her Russian compatriots who have climbed into the top 10 in the WTA Tour rankings. Three of them, Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova have won Grand Slam titles this year.

"That's my next goal and I'm working hard at reaching it," the 20-year-old Zvonereva said.

Mary Pierce also advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Paola Suarez of Argentina, while Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova struggled past Lilia Osterloh of the US, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

In other matches, Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga routed Marlene Weingaertner of Germany 6-0, 6-0 and Nathalie Dechy of France recovered for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria.

The top seeds have first-round byes at the event, where Davenport will try to close in on Mauresmo's world No. 1 ranking.

"Naturally it's my goal to be No. 1 by the end of the year at the latest," said Davenport, who last held that position on June 13, 2001.

Other top players in the field include Myskina and US Open champion Kuznetsova.

Lyon Open

Agustin Calleri of Argentina upset top-seeded Nicolas Massu of Chile 6-3, 6-4 Tuesday in the first round of the US$980,000 Lyon Open.

Calleri is 21-14 this year, while double Olympic gold medalist Massu is 36-24.

Third-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and seventh-seeded Vince Spadea of the US also won, but other seeded players fared poorly, with first-round exits for No. 5 Tommy Robredo of Spain and No. 8 Mario Ancic of Croatia.

Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion, topped Sargis Sargsian of Armenia 6-3, 7-6 (4), and Spadea beat countryman Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-3.

On the losing side, Robredo fell to big-serving Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-1, 6-4, while Ancic retired with a right shoulder injury while trailing 6-3, 3-1 to Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

Also, David Ferrer of Spain beat Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4; Mikhail Youzhny of Russia topped Luis Horna of Peru 6-4, 7-6 (1); and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic outlasted Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean and Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil have pulled out of the upcoming Paris Masters Series tournament due to injuries, the French Tennis Federation said Tuesday.

Grosjean is suffering from a season-ending thigh injury, and Kuerten is recovering from a recent hip operation.

France's Michael Llodra will replace his compatriot and Igor Andreev of Russia will take Kuerten's place for the Oct. 30 to Nov. 7 tournament at Paris' Bercy stadium, the federation said.
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