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Safina, Dementieva Win; Struggling Ivanovic Falls In Moscow

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

(Sports Network) - French Open and Olympic runner-up Dinara Safina and Olympic gold medalist and reigning Moscow champ Elena Dementieva posted second-round victories, while former world No. 1 French Open titlist Ana Ivanovic suffered a setback Wednesday at the $1.34 million Kremlin Cup.

The second-seeded Safina outlasted former world No. 1 Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4, while the third-seeded Dementieva held off Slovenian qualifier Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) on the indoor carpet at Olympic Stadium. The two-time major runner-up Dementieva, who hails from Moscow, defeated Serena Williams in last year's marquee finale here.

Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Ivanovic succumbed to rising Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). The Roland Garros winner and Aussie Open runner-up Ivanovic has lost six of her last 11 matches, including a pair of tournament-opening losses in her last three events, since her big victory in Paris.

Fifth-seeded Russian favorite Svetlana Kuznetsova avoided a second-round upset by besting Italian qualifier Sara Errani 7-6 (7-0), 6-1. Kuznetsova will battle her fellow Russian Safina in Friday's quarterfinals.

The first round wrapped up with a pair of matches on Wednesday, as hot Dane Caroline Wozniacki took out eighth-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 and Nadia Petrova pasted qualifier and fellow Russian Anna Lapushchenkova 6-2, 6-1. The 18-year-old Wozniacki was last week's titlist in Tokyo and has won three of her last seven tournaments. Petrova was last week's runner-up in Stuttgart.

This week's top seed is top-ranked Serb Jelena Jankovic, who is fresh off her back-to-back titles in Beijing and Stuttgart, respectively. The red- hot star will face Russian Vera Dushevina in a second-rounder here on Thursday.

The 2008 Moscow titlist will earn $196,900.

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