Tatiana Golovin of France upset
seventh-seeded Nicole Vaidisova 6-2, 6-0 Tuesday in the first round
of the Zurich Open, eliminating the Czech from the race to qualify
for the season-ending WTA Championship.
Sixth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland lost to Slovakia's
Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 7-5, damaging her chances of qualifying for
the WTA Championship. That allowed Nadia Petrova of Russia to
qualify for the tournament in Madrid, Spain. Petrova is not playing
this week because of a chest injury.
The Zurich Open is the last big event before the tournament in
Spain, and only the top eight players in the WTA Tour rankings
qualify. Vaidisova is 11th.
``Tatiana played great. I had an off day,'' Vaidisova said. ``Put
those together and that's pretty much what happened. Everyone has
their off days.''
In the two games Golovin lost, the Frenchwoman still had break
points.
``I was definitely expecting a tougher match,'' she said. ``But
from the start I could feel she wasn't in it and I took advantage of
it. I wanted it to be over fast. I wanted to put her head under
water right away.''
Schnyder, the 2002 champion, looked out of sorts against
Hantuchova.
``It's tough to get your rhythm against her with her flat balls
and strong serve,'' Schnyder said.
Hantuchova will next face doubles partner Ai Sugiyama of Japan,
who downed Marion Bartoli of France 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
The top three seeded players in Zurich _ Amelie Mauresmo of
France and Russians Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova _
already have qualified for the WTA Championship. Fourth-seeded Elena
Dementieva of Russia also is vying for a spot.
Swiss qualifier Timea Bacsinszky upset former French Open
champion Anastasia Myskina 6-3, 6-3. Myskina, who last played at the
U.S. Open, has been sidelined with a foot injury. The Russian has
not won a match since Aug. 12.
Also, eighth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy defeated Meilen
Tu of the United States 6-2, 6-1; Shahar Peer of Israel beat Alicia
Molik of Australia 6-1, 6-2; Maria Kirilenko of Russia eliminated
Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland 6-4, 7-6 (4); Jelena Jankovic of
Serbia beat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; and
Nathalie Dechy of France downed Jarmila Gajdosova of Slovakia 6-3,
6-4.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
