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Hantuchova opens title bid with victory in Bali

Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan, left, and Peng Shuai of China play Japan’s Ayumi Morita and Aiko Nakamura in a doubles match at the WTA Bali Open tennis tournament at Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, yesterday. Hsieh and Peng won 6-2, 6-3.  PHOTO: AP

Top seed Daniela Hantuchova launched her quest for a first career WTA title at the Bali Open yesterday with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Ukrainian Olga Savchuk.

The 25-year-old Slovakian, currently ranked 11th in the world, is hoping to go one step further than she did here last year, when she lost in the final to former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, who was launching her comeback.

Hantuchova won the first set easily against the 121st-ranked Savchuk, but was tested in the second as the underdog mounted a spirited fight in the tropical heat.

Savchuk broke Hantuchova with a passing shot winner for a 4-2 lead, but the Slovakian broke back in the following game, and sealed the victory on her second match point.

“She picked up her level the second set,” Hantuchova said. “She was more aggressive on serve and it was tough to break here. I made one mistake and she broke me. But I broke right back, I’m pleased for that. I just kept fighting for every point. It was a good test for me, I handled the big points well.”

“I made one mistake and she broke me. But I broke right back.”

— Daniela Hantuchova, 11th-ranked player

Hantuchova is trying to salvage her season after suffering a stress fracture in her right heel two months before Wimbledon.

“It’s getting there,” she said of her conditioning. “I’m working as hard as I can. I understand it’s a long way back and it’s not 100 percent yet. I have to keep going, play a lot of practice sets and hopefully soon I will be back.”

Her win yesterday was only her fourth since the start of the grass-court season, and comes after a first-round loss at the US Open against German Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Poland’s Marta Domachowska booked a quarter-final place with a win over US veteran Jill Craybas 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4.

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Peng Shuai of China defeated Japan’s Ayumi Morita and Aiko Nakamura 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the doubles yesterday.

On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan defeated Morita 6-2, 6-1 to book a second-round clash against Peng.

Sara Errani, Flavia Pennetta and Anastasia Rodionova also advanced on Tuesday.
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