Sat, Aug 14, 2010 page19

• Top seeds tumble in Cincinnati upsets

  PRIDE OF TASHKENT Qualifier and world No. 114, Akgul Amanmuradova, hit 12 aces in beating Jelena Jankovic, her first-ever victory over a top 10 player

  • AP
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  Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic and second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki were knocked out in third-round upsets at the Cincinnati Women’s Open on Thursday.

  Uzbek qualifier Akgul Amanmuradova used a decisive serve advantage to upset the second-ranked Jankovic 7-6 (2), 6-4, shortly after Marion Bartoli of France won eight straight games on her way to beating the third-ranked Wozniacki 6-4, 6-1.

  Just one of the top nine seeds — No. 4 Kim Clijsters — and five of the top 16 remained going into the quarter-finals of the US$2 million Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open.

  

  Ana Ivanovic serves to Elena Vesnina at the Cincinnati Women’s Open on Thursday at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.

  PHOTO: AFP

  Sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia fell to Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-4, 6-3, while seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland was eliminated by Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-3, and eighth-seeded Li Na of China lost to Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

  Also, Shahar Peer of Israel fell to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

  The seventh-ranked Clijsters easily advanced, downing No. 132 Christina McHale 6-1, 6-1. McHale, the last remaining American, only had two break-point opportunities and didn’t convert either, while Clijsters went 5 for 10.

  

  Akgul Amanmuradova hits a return to Jelena Jankovic in their third round match on Thursday at the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  Sharapova believes the rash of upsets can be traced to the balance in women’s tennis.

  “I think it just speaks a lot about the depth of the game right now,” said the Russian, who is playing in the tournament for the first time. “I think the depth of the game is a lot deeper than it was, say, a few years ago, where maybe in the first few rounds you could have gotten a few easy matches, easy scorelines. I think now, from the get-go, you really have to be ready for the first round.”

  “You’re facing really tough opponents, and some of them are not seeded or dropped in the rankings, but to be honest, at the end of the day, that doesn’t really matter,” she said. “You still have to go out there and face them.”

  Former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic continued her impressive run with a 6-0, 6-3 win over No. 49 Elena Vesnina. The 62nd-ranked Ivanovic has beaten three higher-ranked opponents to reach the quarter-finals.

  The 114th-ranked Amanmuradova hit 12 aces with no double faults, keeping the tournament’s defending champion on her heels.

  “I didn’t expect to go that far,” said Amanmuradova. “I knew Cincinnati was very strong, being a Premier event for the second year. Last year, I lost in the first round. I was just hoping to pass through the qualifier and see what happens. Today was one of my best games ever. I’d never beaten a top 10 player.”

  “Serving a lot of aces helped me save my energy,” the 26-year-old from Tashkent said.

  Jankovic played just two matches one week after losing in the first round at San Diego in her first match since injuring her left ankle during the second round of a tournament in Slovenia in the middle of last month.

  “The key to today’s match was I really didn’t return well and her serves were really accurate,” Jankovic said. “I didn’t really have many chances. When I had the chances, I didn’t really take them. When I was able to hit the return, I would make mistakes. So, unfortunately, I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. She was a better player today.”

  Wozniacki had won six straight matches and was leading 4-3 in the first set before Bartoli got going and won the last three games of that set and five more to take control.

  Momentum changed when Bartoli won a challenge on break-point in the eighth game.

  “To break her, especially to get this challenging call when the ball was out and the line judge called it in and actually it was out on the break-point, it was kind of a huge turning point,” Bartoli said.

  “I felt like, after that, I served really well, and it helped me a lot to stay on top today,” she said.
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