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Swiss struggle Schnyder upset in first round at German Open
Posted: Monday May 08, 2000 01:28 PM
BERLIN (Reuters) -- Swiss Patty Schnyder became the first seed to bow out of the German Open when she fell 6-3 6-4 to Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis in a first-round match on Monday. "I'm still struggling to adapt to clay," 16th seed Schnyder said. "I'm letting my opponents dictate play. I have to be more aggressive. The only other seed in action on the opening day, number 13 Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania, was made to work by France's Sarah Pitkowski before scoring a 7-5 7-5 victory in an entertaining match. There was some consolation for the Swiss fans after Schnyder's early exit when Emmanuelle Gagliardi moved past Israel's Anna Smashnova 7-6 6-4 to set up an all-Swiss second-round match against Martina Hingis. Number one seed Hingis marked her return to the top of the WTA Tour rankings by beating Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the Hamburg Cup final on Sunday. She still has time to rest as the top eight seeds have a bye into the second round and will not appear before Wednesday. American teenager Alexandra Stevenson, who burst into the limelight by reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon last year, proved she could also win on clay by beating Russian Tatiana Panova 6-2 7-6 on a sunny day in the German capital. "I'm here to learn," said Stevenson, playing her first European tournament of the year. "I still need to play matches to get used to the surface."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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