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Going for more Kournikova continues quest for first title
LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) -- Anna Kournikova, back in the top 10 again after reaching last week's Kremlin Cup final, beat Italy's Silvia Farina 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday in the $535,000 Sparkassen Cup. France's Nathalie Tauziat, the defending champion and top-seeded player, struggled to a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Russia's Tatiana Panova in another first-round match. The 33-year-old Tauziat said she is not retiring at the end of the year as has been widely reported. In other matches, Belgium's Kim Clijsters routed Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-0, 6-2 and seventh-seeded Russian Elena Likhovtseva ousted Lisa Raymond 6-3, 6-3. Kournikova, seeded third, beat a player that has given her trouble. She cut down on the double faults that had been one reason she split her six previous matches with Farina. Kournikova is still seeking her first singles title. When Farina beat her at the 1998 Moscow Open, she ended the Russian's streak of not losing to a player ranked outside the top 15 for almost two years. Panova had trouble with her serve and dropped the first set despite leading 3-0. Tauziat lost a 3-1 lead in the final set, then had to fight off three break points to hold serve when Panova had tied it 3-3. "I had a three-set match in my first match last year, then went on to win the tournament," Tauziat said.
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