09 December 2007

DUBAI — Valentina Sassi of Italy was the first seeded player to crash out in the qualifiers of the ninth $75,000 ITF Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge which started at the Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa yesterday.

The 27-year-old Italian, seeded third and with ITF ranking of 305, was stunned by her younger opponent, Alexandra Malyarchikova of Bulgaria, 6-4, 6-4.

Sassi, with her vast experience on the ITF circuit, was under constant pressure from the 18-year-old Malyarchikova, listed 662 on the ITF rankings. The Bulgarian capitalised on Sassi’s lethargy and errors to pull off the first shock of the qualifiers.

Five other seeded players, however, made it to the second round notching up easy victories. Second seed Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium ground out a 6-1, 6-0 win against Russia’s Elizaveta Tochilovskaya while fifth seed Michaela Johansson of Sweden ousted Nives Pavlovic of Serbia 6-0, 6-3.

Sixth seed Pemra Ozgen of Turkey made light work of Alina Tseplukhova of Russia with a 6-2, 6-1 victory. Irina Kuzmina of Latvia, seeded seventh, also had no difficulty beating Ukraine’s Yelyzaveta Rybakova 6-1, 6-1.

Results: Amra Sadikovic (Switzerland) bt Julia Efremova (Russia) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Pemra Ozgen (Turkey) bt Alina Tseplukhova (Russia) 6-2, 6-1; Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) bt Elizaveta Tochilovaskaya (Russia) 6-1, 6-0; Biljana Pavlova (Belgium) bt Nicole Riner (Switzerland) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Irina Kuzmina (Latvia) bt Yelyzaveta (Ukraine) 6-1, 6-1; Alexandra Malyarchikova (Bulgaria) bt Valentina Sassi (Italy) 6-4, 6-4; Ekaterina Dranets (Russia) bt Tatsiana Kapshay (Bulgaria) 6-1, 6-3; Ana Savic (Croatia) bt Santa Sushinska (Latvia) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Michaela Johansson (Sweden) bt Nives Pavlovic (Serbia) 6-0, 6-3.

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