Schiavone, Kuznetsova set up rematch in Dubai

Schiavone defeated Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-1, while Kuznetsova, a two-time runner-up in Dubai, struggled past Tsevetana Pironkova 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 for a third straight time.
The wins put them on course to meet on Thursday, more than three weeks since their fourth-round encounter in Melbourne went for 4 hours, 44 minutes in the longest women’s Grand Slam singles in the Open era. Schiavone ultimately won the match.
Looking forward to the match, Schiavone smiled and said, “After two hours, I’ll take the racket and put it in the bag. … I really want to play against her because we know each other, we play good tennis and we can enjoy it and improve.”
Kuznetsova leads their matchups 8-5 since 2003, but Schiavone has won the last two.
Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva beat Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-3, 6-1. The Russian, still seeking her first title in more than a year, has lost in the quarterfinals the last two years.
“It’s never easy to play Roberta, she’s a tricky player,” Zvonareva said.
Fourth-seeded Sam Stosur drubbed Pattaya Open runner-up Sara Errani of Italy 6-0, 6-1 in 55 minutes, and seventh-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus overcame seven double faults to beat Chinese qualifier Peng Shuai 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 7-5, 6-4.
Shahar Peer of Israel, a semifinalist last year, defeated Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 6-4, 6-2, and Marion Bartoli of France outlasted Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
 
Murray pulls out of Dubai, cites injury
Beaten Australian Open finalist Andy Murray has pulled out of next week’s $1.6 million Dubai Open, citing a wrist injury.
“Andy would like to apologize to both the tournament and its fans,” a simple two sentence statement on his official website read.
The Scot was last week bumped out of Rotterdam by Marcos Baghdatis, his first match since losing the Australian Open showpiece to Novak Djokovic last month.
That Melbourne defeat was the third time a grand slam final appearance has ended in defeat for the world number five, who is yet to win one of tennis’s four major titles.
His next tournament is now listed as the March 10-20 $605,000 Indian Wells Masters event.
Murray last year came under fire in Dubai for saying after a loss at the tournament that he had employed experimental tactics.
He was beaten by unseeded Janko Tipsarevic after an unusual display in which he charged the net more than usual and went for a greater number of winners.
“I think it was a good learning experience — if it was a slam, my tactics would have been different,” Murray told reporters afterwards.
 
Roddick wins opener in Memphis
In Memphis, Tennessee, Andy Roddick beat Richard Berankis of Lithuania 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round of the RMK Championships on Tuesday.
The two-time winner in Memphis will face Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic in the second round.
Roddick, playing for the first time since the Australian Open, had plenty of unforced errors, but produced 23 aces with his strong serve.
“It was one of those days where I felt if I made a first serve the point was done, didn’t have to do much work after that,” Roddick said. “That gave me a chance. And I played a little bit more aggressive in the third set.”
Defending champion and fifth-seeded Sam Querrey of the United States opened with a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, snapping a three-match winless streak to open the season. Querrey had lost first-round matches in Sydney, Melbourne and San Jose to start the year and had dropped six straight since to mid-October.
Earlier, No. 2-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States beat Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-1, 7-5. Fish skipped last week’s SAP Open because a thyroid condition was bothering him.
“I felt a lot better today than I did Friday,” Fish said. “So that’s a good sign. Obviously the goal is to try to get to 100 percent. To be honest, I’ve felt better each day.”
Fish is coming off a year in which he attained a career-high world ranking of 16, won two tournaments and reached the finals of three others.
Among those joining Fish in the second round were American James Blake, who beat Ricardo Mello of Brazil, 6-4, 6-3; and 2009 finalist Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, who beat German Benjamin Becker, 6-4, 6-2.
Croatia’s Ivan Dodig, who won his first ATP World Tour event two weeks ago in Croatia, beat Germany’s Rainer Schuettler 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In second-round matches on the women’s side, the Cellular South Cup, No. 7 seed Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic was eliminated by Russian Ksenia Pervak, 6-1, 6-1.
Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia beat Britain’s Anne Keothavong, a Memphis semifinalist the previous two years.
The only seeded players remaining in the field are No. 3 Melanie Oudin and No. 6 Rebecca Marino.