Pierce self-destructs at Pan Pacific Open

TOKYO (Reuters) -- An exasperated Mary Pierce pushed the self-destruct button on Tuesday to lose her first round match at the Pan Pacific Open 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 to sixth seed Silvia Farina Elia.

The Frenchwoman, who has been ranked as high as three in the world, won a scrappy first set but then inexplicably fell apart, losing 11 out of the next 12 games as the unforced errors piled up at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

The $1.3 million tournament has already been hit by the withdrawal of former world No. 1s Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati, along with Russian glamour girl Anna Kournikova.

Monica Seles was elevated to top seed in the reshuffle.

Pierce lost in the second round of the Australian Open and was granted a wild card to play in Tokyo but looks no closer to discovering her game after almost two years in the wilderness.

"Today was just not my day. I played a good first set but made too many unforced errors in the second and third. Silvia played a solid match all the way through," said Pierce.

Pierce won the French Open in 1995 and the Australian Open three years ago but missed most of 2001 with a back injury. She hardly played in the second half of last season as she struggled with her fitness.

Meanwhile, eighth seed Elena Dementieva gave her confidence a lift after her first-round exit at the Australian Open, comfortably beating in-form American Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5, 6-2.

The Russian took control after a tight first set, out-hustling her American opponent, who looked tired after reaching the quarterfinals in Melbourne.

Seles kicks off her bid for a first Pan Pacific Open title on Wednesday, when the world No. 9 plays Japan's Ai Sugiyama, a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 winner over Italian Rita Grande in the first round.

But second seed Jelena Dokic and third seed Lindsay Davenport, who also received first-round byes, will have an extra day off as they wait to see who they will face in the second round.

Hingis, a four times winner in Tokyo, pulled out in early January with continuing ankle problems.

Capriati withdrew after losing in the first round of the Australian Open, where she complained she had come back too quickly after eye surgery to remove sunspots in the offseason.

Kournikova, still chasing an elusive first singles title on the WTA Tour, decided not to risk playing here after picking up a back sprain in Melbourne.

In other first-round matches on Tuesday, Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik beat South African Amanda Coetzer 6-4, 7-5 while Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn defeated Argentine Clarisa Fernandez 7-6, 6-2.

 

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