MOSCOW, 11 October 2007 — Second seed Maria Sharapova was unceremoniously bundled out of the Kremlin Cup yesterday, losing to Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka 7-6, 6-2 in the second round.

It was Sharapova’s second successive defeat by an 18-year-old after the world No. 4 went out of the third round of the US Open last month to Pole Agnieszka Radwanska.

In her first match in almost six weeks, Sharapova, who had been nursing a shoulder injury, looked a shadow of the player who won two Grand Slam titles as a teenager. She made 45 unforced errors and served seven double faults in a match lasting one hour 49 minutes.

It also marked the third year in a row that the Florida-based Russian’s stay in Moscow has ended in disappointment.

She was forced to pull out with a foot injury last year and was beaten in the quarterfinals in 2005.

Earlier, Russia’s Vera Zvonareva recorded her first win over Amelie Mauresmo when she came from behind to beat the sixth-seeded Frenchwoman 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.

After battling for over two hours, the unseeded Russian scored a decisive break in the ninth game of the third set before clinching the win at her first opportunity when the 11th-ranked Mauresmo hit a wild backhand on match point. Zvonareva had lost her previous seven meetings with the former world number one.

“Finally I was able to beat her, it feels great,” said the 24th-ranked Muscovite, who will now face Radwanska in round two.

Mauresmo’s compatriot, fifth seed and Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, was also sent home by unseeded Russian Vera Dushevina 2-6, 6-0, 6-4.

On a day of upsets, seventh seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland was knocked out by another unseeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Dushevina will face top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, while Dementieva meets Azarenka.

In the men’s draw, fourth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu of France, who won his first professional title in Moscow five years ago, became the first player into the last eight with a straightforward 6-3, 6-4 win over Russian wildcard Igor Kunitsyn.

Eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany joined Mathieu after outlasting Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic 7-6, 1-6, 6-4.

Russia’s second seed Mikhail Youzhny also advanced, seeing off Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-2 in the first round.

Jankovic Retires in Bangkok Open

First Round Due to Heat Troubles

Top seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia bowed out during the first round of the Bangkok Open, retiring with heat exhaustion after splitting sets with Zi Yan of China at the Bangkok Open yesterday.

Jankovic, the world No. 3, won the first set 6-4 but had difficulties under highly humid conditions after exchanging long baseline rallies, and her Chinese opponent took the second set 7-6.

In a later first round match, second seed Venus Williams was leading Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-2, 4-1 when rain suspended play. They were to resume today.

Jankovic required a medical time out after losing the second set. After she lost the first two points on her serves in the third set, she threw in the towel after 1 hour, 45 minutes of play.

“I arrived yesterday and didn’t sleep last night. I played indoors last week and it was cold in Germany, so it was a drastic change for me. My body couldn’t take it,” said Jankovic.

In the other first round matches, defending champion Vania King came back from a second set loss to beat Jill Craybas 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 after 2 hours and 7 minutes in an all-American tussle. Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan beat Magdalena Rybarikova of the Slovak Republic 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour, 18 minutes.

In second round matches, Camille Pin of France became the first player to book a spot in the quarterfinal by beating Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-6 in 1 hour, 32 minutes. Seventh seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy also made it into the final eights, coming back from a first set loss to beat Casey Dellacqua of Australia 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Haas Lifts His Game in

Masters Cup Bid

In Stockholm, Tommy Haas improved his chances for a spot in the season-ending championships, booking a quarterfinal place at the Stockholm Open after a battle with Spain’s Albert Montanes yesterday. The German fourth seed took 93 minutes to carve out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 second-round win at the Kungligahallen.

In the first round, Sweden’s lucky loser Bjorn Rehnquist, who took the absent Verdasco’s place on court, extended his good fortune 6-4, 6-4 over American Vince Spadea, moving into a match against Croatian Mario Ancic.

Australian Peter Luczak got off to a fast start over German Benjamin Becker, his 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback victory sending him up against Finnish sixth seed and two-time finalist Jarkko Nieminen today.

Gonzalez Reaches Quarterfinals

of BA-CA Tennis Trophy

In Vienna, Austria, second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez defeated Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 yesterday to reach the quarterfinals of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy. The sixth-ranked Chilean, who lost in last year’s final to Ivan Ljubicic, dominated the match with strong serves and attacking forehands from the baseline. Gonzalez had eight aces and never dropped more than two points on serve.

In the quarterfinals, Gonzalez will play Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat Julien Benneteau 7-6, 1-6, 6-2.

The first set went without break points and into a tiebreaker.

Benneteau used the two break points he got to win the second, but was outplayed in the decider by Ferrero, who defeated fifth-seeded Guillermo Canas in the first round.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals was Andreas Seppi of Italy after beating Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-3.