Seventh seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia was upset in the first round of the Tennis.com Zurich Open by Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu 3-6 6-3 6-2. Sixth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland lost to qualifier Petra Kvitova 6-4 3-6 6-4.

The world No.66 Niculescu won 10 of the final 13 games with her left thigh heavily strapped.

Chakvetadze was the second seeded player to lose at the Tennis.com Zurich Open as eighth seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia fell to Maria Kirilenko of Russia on Monday.

Later on Tuesday, Schnyder was upset by the world No.57 Kvitova of the Czech Republic, in three sets like Chakvetadze.

Other today’s results: Italy’s Francesca Schiavone beat Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-6(3) 6-2, and Marion Bartoli of France defeated Hungarian Agnes Szavay 6-4 6-0. (via IHT, photo: chakvetadze-anna.com)

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Carlos Rodriguez, best-known as the former coach of once dominant women’s tennis player Justine Henin, was interviewed by Matt Cronin for FOXSports.com and gave harsh reviews of some currently top WTA players.

Ok, the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova can be satisfied, but Jelena Jankovic could feel more than offended. However, we can’t blame Carlos for being honest; I doubt he wanted to insult anyone. Read more »

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World No.12 Anna Chakvetadze took some time away from the courts during her visit to Beijing for the China Open to learn something about the country’s imperial past. The Russian visited the Forbidden City which consists of 800 buildings. Enjoy the short video with Anna Chakvetadze!

Eighth-seeded Chakvetadze fell in the second round of the China Open to Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 6-2.

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It seems adidas will be less and less prominent brand in tennis.

There have been rumors that Ana Ivanovic will leave adidas when her contract expires in 2009, while Anna Chakvetadze already switched to Fila signing a deal during the US Open.

The Russian world No.12 will join Svetlana Kuznetsova and Agnes Szavay as Fila’s promoter.

Annoyed by adidas' boring designs, to say the least, fellow blogger from Down the Line commented: "I'm not even sponsored by adidas and I want to leave." Hahaha.

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Three seeds fell on the first day of the 2008 US Open: Russians Anna Chakvetadze and Maria Kirilenko, and Shahar Peer of Israel.

Chakvetadze, seeded tenth, suffered her earliest Grand Slam defeat in more than three years falling 1-6 6-2 6-3 to compatriot Ekaterina Makarova, ranked 56th in the world. Chakvetadze took the opening set in 25 minutes and looked to be on a good way to victory, but in the end she became a first-round loser.

No.22 seed Kirilenko lost to Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-3 3-6 6-4 and this year’s result is her worst at the US Open, before she reached second or third round.

Peer, seed No.24, got eliminated by China’s Li Na 2-6 6-0 6-1 despite superb play in the opening set. "In the first set I felt like I was playing against a wall," said Li after her great turnaround. (photos: Getty Images)

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