World No.20 Dominika Cibulkova defeated former No.1 Amelie Mauresmo in the first round of two successive tournaments.
The 19-year-old Slovak ended Mauresmo’s stay at the recent Toray Pan Pacific Open in the first round already, coming back from a first-set bagel and saving four match points. Today, Cibulkova repeated the upset in the first round of the China Open in Beijing taking the Frenchwoman out 3-6 6-4 6-3. (photo: cibulkova-dominika.com)
Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova rallied to defeat former world number one Amelie Mauresmo of France 0-6 6-1 7-6 (8) in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Despite taking the first set without losing a game, leading 4-1 in the tiebreaker, and having four match points, Mauresmo was defeated by the Slovakian teenager.
"It's always frustrating to lose a match when you have match points and can't close it out," said the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Mauresmo. "I let her get back into the match in the second set and it's disappointing to lose like that."
As for the fallen seeded players in the first round, eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze was upset by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-4 3-6 6-3, while Francesca Schiavone stunned seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 7-5.
Top seed Jelena Jankovic has a bye into the second round, as well as fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic, who is number two seed. (photo: cibulkova-dominika.com)
Number 16 seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy eased through to a matchup with Russian sixth seed Dinara Safina with a 6-3 6-0 victory over Amelie Mauresmo in the fourth round of the US Open.
Former world number one Mauresmo was struggling to find form for a long time, but has recently shown signs of getting back on track. In the match against Pennetta, however, Mauresmo produced 14 doubles and 40 unforced errors, and eased the Italian’s way into her first Grand Slam quarterfinals.
Safina and Pennetta have played each other four times, and all the encounters were won by the Russian. (source: Reuters, photo: Getty Images)
Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo seems to be starting a new, better life on the Tour as she reached the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick in New Haven and continued her recent revival.
Mauresmo, currently ranked 33rd, upset fifth seed Patty Schnyder 6-4 3-6 7-6 saving a match point on the way to victory.
Mauresmo’s year was struck by injuries and low self-esteem but she seems to be getting back on track: "These are the kind of matches I have been losing in the last year. At some point it affects your confidence, so to win one like this is good and hopefully I can build from here."
The Frenchwoman will next face fourth seed and last year’s finalist Agnes Szavay of Hungary. (source: Reuters, photo: Getty Images)
The International Tennis Federation has released a 140-page publication called "Journey to Beijing – Tennis celebrates the Olympics" to promote the 2008 Beijing Olympic Tennis Event. Read more »
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