Pavlyuchenkova stuns Dementieva
Third seed Elena Dementieva was a surprise loser in the second round of the Cincinnati Open yesterday, going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Pavlyuchenkova hardly gave her opponent a look-in en route to a 6-1 6-3 victory, which set up a third-round meeting with Shahar Peer.
Peer, the 13th seed from Israel, breezed past Spain’s Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-3 6-2 in round two.
French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, the fifth seed, joined Dementieva in making an early exit when she was beaten 6-4 6-4 by Russia’s Elena Vesnina.
Second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark cruised into the last 16 with a 6-0 6-2 triumph over Austria’s Sybille Bammer, while 10th-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova progressed with a comfortable 6-3 6-1 win against German Andrea Petkovic.
Fourth seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat Russia’s Dinara Safina 7-5 6-2 to set up a third-round meeting with American Christina McHale, who cruised past Japan’s Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-4.
Former world number one Ana Ivanovic of Serbia advanced with a straight-sets win over Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-1 7-5.
There were also comfortable wins for 11th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, a 6-0 6-1 victor over Romania’s Monica Niculescu, and Chinese eighth seed Li Na, who saw off Italian Sara Errani 6-2 6-2.
Sixth seed Vera Zvonareva edged another all-Russian encounter in a rain-interrupted match against Maria Kirilenko 7-5 2-6 7-6 (7/2) while Polish seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska and Belgian 12th seed Yanina Wickmayer also advanced.
