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Sports

Sunday October 4, 2009

French teen upsets Australia’s Stosur in Beijing

BEIJING: French teen Alize Cornet upset Australian 15th seed Samantha Stosur to advance to the second round of the China Open yesterday, as play got under way in the women’s main draw.

The 19-year-old Cornet, ranked 51st in the world, defeated the Australian veteran in three tough sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, on centre court at the Olympic Tennis Centre.

The French teen broke Stosur in the 10th game to take the first set 6-4, but the 25-year-old Australian, ranked 15th in the world, battled back in the second to even the match at one set all.

Cornet did not fold under the pressure, making just nine unforced errors throughout the match to Stosur’s 23 and sealing the victory 6-3 in the third.

In other first round action, Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, the 10th seed, fought back an early challenge from Chinese wild card entrant Han Xinyun to win in straight sets, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

The pair traded service breaks several times in the first set to bring it to a tiebreaker, during which the Italian used her experience to best advantage, taking some of the pace off and forcing a forehand error to win the set.

Pennetta, a US Open quarterfinalist, took charge of the match when she broke Han for a 3-2 lead in the second set and never looked back, closing out the match with an overhead smash.

Venus Williams advanced to the second round of the China Open with an uneven performance in her return to Beijing, where she won Olympic doubles gold with sister Serena last year.

Venus, the world number three and third seed here, came onto centre court at the Olympic Tennis Centre with all guns blazing, but then had to dig deep in the second set to rally to defeat Russia’s Vera Dushevina, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1).

The 29-year-old American, sporting a hot pink mini-dress from her Eleven fashion line, dictated play on the first night of main draw matches — for better and for worse.

Top seed Dinara Safina will face Italy’s Roberta Vinci in the first round, while second seed Serena Williams will take on Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.

Maria Sharapova, who won the Pan Pacific Open in Japan on Saturday, has a first round bye in Beijing. Jelena Jankovic, who was due to play in Beijing, withdrew from the final against Sharapova with an arm injury.

The men’s main draw gets under way tomorrow, with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick leading the charge. — AFP

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