14 October 2003

Germany's Barbara Rittner was the first to enter the second round with a swift 6-4, 6-3 victory against Ireland's Kelly Liggan on the opening day of the sixth Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge at the Metro-politan Resort and Beach Club yesterday.

It was not all easy going for Rittner, who once boasted a career high ranking of 24 on the WTA Tour, as she saw Liggan threaten her with a gritty display from the back of the court.

Rittner did well to break her Irish opponent in the very first game and then hold on to her serve to take an early 2-0 lead. Leading 3-1, the German faltered in her concentration, lost her serve and was tied 3-3.

The players broke each other one more time, before Rittner managed another break and then kept serve to win the set 6-4.

The second set went the German's way as she broke Liggan early and held on to her advantage to win comfortably 6-3.

The four qualifiers to make it to the main draw were decided late last night with Zsofia Gubacsi battling over nearly three hours before overcoming teenager Lina Stanciute 6-7, 6-4, 7-5.

Mervana Jugic-Salkic, who was the top seed in the qualifying round, easily defeated Aurelija Miseviciute 6-3, 6-1, to book her place in the main competition, while Eugenia Linetskaya kept her calm before a seemingly upset Angelika Roesch before winning 6-0, 6-3.

In the last match of the night, birthday girl Gulnara Fattakhetdinova and last year's semifinalist Camille Pin waged a grim battle before the French girl carved out a fighting 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

"I feel bad for her, but that's life. Once you are on court, you are totally focused on the game and winning. I remember even I've lost on my birthday earlier during my career," smiled Pin.

"I had set myself a goal of entering the main draw and I feel nice. It is now time to continue keeping the focus and do well in the proper competition," added last year's semifinalist.

It was a good start for Fattakhetdinova as she sent the lithe built Pin to all corners of the court. "She got me tired during the first set," Pin conceded.

After getting a physiotherapist on court, Pin steadied her game and bagged the next two sets to seal her place in the main draw where she faces Lenka Nemeckova of the Czech Republic later today.

Results
Main draw: Barbara Rittner bt Kelly Liggan 6-4, 6-3; Kyra Nagy bt Seda Noorlander 6-0, 3-2 (retd.).

Order of Play on Tuesday:
(Centre Court) 9 am: Bahia Mouhtassine vs Severine Beltrame; (4 pm) Eva Birnerova vs Olga Barabanschikova; Angelique Widjaja vs Zsofia Gobacsi; Eugenia Linetskaya vs Arantxa Parra; Aniko Kapros/Martina Sucha vs Kirstin Freye/Angelika Roesch.

(Court 1) 9 am: Adriana Serra Zanetti vs Alyona Bondarenko; Daniela Klemenschits/Sandra Klemenschits vs Silvia Disderi/Seda Noorlander; (4 pm) Angelika Roesch vs Lubomira Kurhajcova; Henrieta Nagyova vs Mervana Jugic-Salkic; Camille Pin vs Lenka Nemeckova.

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