Top-seeded Elena Dementieva was defeated 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (4) by Virginie Razzano at the Eastbourne International on Wednesday, joining the long list of ousted seeds.
The Russian claimed just 29 percent of the points in the first set, and although she recovered to win a ragged second set in windy conditions, her French opponent clinched the upset in a tiebreaker.
After two rounds, only two seeds remain in the women’s draw and three in the men’s draw.
Former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo was beaten 7-6 (8), 7-6 (13) by Ekaterina Makarova of Russia after she built commanding leads in each set. After the match she was at a loss to understand why.
“It’s a cruel match to lose,” Mauresmo said. “This one was not for me, I guess. I had opportunities and was not able to take them, not able to do the right shot at the right time.”
Nadia Petrova smashed her racket in frustration as she was forced to retire against fellow Russian Vera Dushevina with a back injury.
The seventh seed had won the first set 7-5, but lost the opening game of the second set before quitting.
Li Na of China also quit with an abdominal strain while trailing 3-1 against defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
On the men’s side, second-seeded Dmitry Tursunov came within two points of defeat against British qualifier Alex Bogdanovic, before edging the 2 hour, 33-minute match 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (5). Sixth-seeded American Sam Querrey failed to advance when he was beaten 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 by Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
■ORDINA OPEN
AP, DEN BOSCH, NETHERLANDS
Defending champion David Ferrer reached the quarter-finals at the Ordina Open Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over compatriot Oscar Hernandez.
Ferrer’s next opponent at the grass court tournament is fellow Spaniard Ivan Navarro, who upset last year’s losing finalist Marc Gicquel.
German qualifier Benjamin Becker, who ousted top-seeded Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday, will play 2004 champion Michael Llodra in the last eight.
Fourth-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany advanced to the quarter-finals by beating Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-3, 7-6 (3). Schuettler next plays seventh-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France.
In the women’s draw, sixth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia advanced to the quarter-final after beating Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
In an unfortunate day for the Bondarenko sisters, Alona Bondarenko crashed out after losing 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to fifth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy. Schiavone next meets Olga Govortsova of Belarus, who defeated Nathalie Dechy of France 6-1, 6-3.
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
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