Anna survives

Russian fights ahead in Dubai, will face Venus next

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) -- Anna Kournikova edged past inspired Tunisian Selima Sfar to reach the second round of the Dubai Open on Tuesday and set up a meeting with soon-to-be-crowned world number one Venus Williams.

It took the Russian two hours 16 minutes to earn her 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 win and set up a second match in two weeks with top seed Williams after staring at a likely defeat in the final set.

Sfar held three points for a 4-1 lead, but two nervous double faults offered Kournikova a reprieve, and the Russian held on to break for 5-4 and serve out for victory.

"I gave everything I had," said Sfar.

"We gave a good show and I enjoyed it. The match was close at 3-1, 40-0 and she was very down, and I gave her back the match by double faulting twice in a row. She could see that I was very nervous and she got back in the match again."

Sfar, who trains at Nathalie Tauziat's academy in France, often played brilliant tennis, threatening her opponent from the net, chasing down the half-chance to snatch a winner and striking some fine volleys.

The Tunisian's enterprise allowed her to twice serve for the first set, at 5-4 and 6-5, but Kournikova was able to hold off nine set points before Sfar took the set on a tiebreak.

The Russian, who missed much of last season with a stress fracture in her left foot, called for treatment to the foot late in the first set and then fell just before breaking serve for 6-6. She looked shaken and was soon 5-0 behind in the tiebreak.

"I fell and it happened to be on the same foot and that was on my mind in the tiebreak," said Kournikova, who more than matched Sfar for quality as she moved quickly around the court whipping a succession of winners past her helpless opponent.

But she was also hindered by 11 double faults and a tendency to miss the easiest of volleys at times.

"I didn't feel 100 per cent physically and it was very up and down," said Kournikova.

"When I did get the ball in I was playing very well, but it was difficult because my mind was thinking about my body, not about the game.

"I just felt pain in my foot and I couldn't push off on my serve. The fact is that when you're playing a point you have adrenalin going and you don't really feel it. It's in between that you feel it."

Sandrine Testud of France also struggled to overcome Italy's Rita Grande in her second round match before reaching the quarterfinals with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory.

Testud has had trouble finding her rhythm in the early part of the season, and the number four seed was relieved to come away from the match with a win.

Neither player managed to take control in the first two sets but Testud steadied in the third to earn her fourth win in five meetings with the Italian.

Wimbledon junior champion Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia, who won her debut WTA event in Bali late last year, was beaten for the second time in two weeks by Slovakia's Janette Husarova.

After battling through the qualifying event, the 17-year-old was unable to find her timing and slumped to a 6-1, 6-4 defeat.

Seventh-seed Angeles Montolio was tested by another qualifier, Camille Pin of France. After being outplayed in the second set the Spaniard had to recover from 0-2 down in the third before claiming a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 victory.

Both players failed to find any consistency, with Montolio winning the final three games of the first set but then dropping the last five games of the second. In the final set, she recovered from a slow start to take the last six games.

"I have no explanation," said Montolio when asked why she had lost seven straight games and then won the next six. "That's tennis I suppose. I just tried to keep the ball in after I was down 2-0 in the third."

In other matches, sixth-seeded Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn rallied to beat Martina Sucha of Slovakia 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, Swiss Emanuelle Gagliardi defeated Australian Nicole Pratt 6-4, 6-2, Croatia's Jelena Kostanic downed Hungary's Petra Mandula 7-6, 6-1 and Italy's Tathiana Garbin beat Belgian Tatiana Poutchek 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

 

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