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Romanian teenager upsets Chakvetadze at Charleston

Sorana Cirstea of Romania returns a shot during her 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 victory over the No. 3 seed, Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, in Charleston, South Carolina, on Tuesday. PHOTO :AP

Romanian teen Sorana Cirstea upset third-seeded Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 to reach the last 16 at the Family Circle Cup on Tuesday.

“Up until now, I actually believed hard courts were my best surface but now I think I’m going to change my mind,” said Cirstea, who has won consecutive three-set matches on the green clay at the US$1.3 million tournament.

Cirstea, who turned 18 last week, pulled off her first win over a top-10 player. Chakvetadze, ranked 80 spots higher at No. 6, won the Paris Indoors in February but has slumped since, going 4-6 on the tour.

“She just pushed the ball back and I made mistakes,” Chakvetadze said. “I think it’s just the way I’m playing right now.”

Also through to the third round were No. 5 Serena Williams, No. 6 Marion Bartoli, No. 8 Dinara Safina and No. 10 Agnes Szavay.

Williams struggled past Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-3, 6-4, overcoming losing her serve three times.

“I got a slow start in general. It was cold and it was just a late match. So those are just the excuses that I’m giving myself as to why I served bad,” Williams said after her 11th straight win, including titles in Bangalore and Key Biscayne.

Bartoli won her opening match for only the fourth time in nine tournaments this year when she outlasted Casey Dellacqua of Australia 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, Safina defeated Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain, 6-1, 6-4, and Szavay, a quarter-finalist last week at Amelia Island, beat Ai Sugiyama of Japan 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
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