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ZURICH: Seeds Patty Schnyder and Anna Chakvetadze both slumped out of the Zurich Open on Tuesday, losing to qualifiers in their first round matches.
Swiss sixth seed and former champion Schnyder surrendered 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to Czech Petra Kvitova, and seventh-seeded Russian Chakvetadze was beaten 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 by Romanian Monica Niculescu.
Schnyder has enjoyed a successful year, which included quarter-finals at Roland Garros and the US Open, a title in Bali and final at Bangalore.
But she struggled to find a rhythm against an erratic opponent, and her game collapsed in the final set after she had dropped just one point in taking a 3-0 lead.
"It was a strange match," said Schnyder. "Returning a lefty serve gave me a lot of trouble and she went for so much, making a lot of mistakes two or three games in a row and then hitting just winners. It was a matter of staying in the points and making it as difficult as I could, but sometimes it wasn't enough."
In contrast to Schnyder, Chakvetadze has endured a season of fluctuating fortunes. Although she won the Paris Indoor event in February and reached the final in New Haven in August, she has now lost nine opening round matches this year.
With just one win in her five tournaments since New Haven, her latest setback came against a modest opponent who won simply by keeping the ball in play, often with heavy slice, something Chakvetadze struggled to do.
"There is no reason. I don't know the reason. I wish I did," said a distraught Chakvetadze. "If you can't beat a player who plays tennis of this quality I don't know who you can beat. I'm looking forward to the end of the season and a good break."
Fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland avoided the upsets, beating Russian qualifier Vera Dushevina 6-4, 6-1, and there were also wins for Marion Bartoli of France, Italy's Francesca Schiavone and Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain.
Meanwhile top seed Jelena Jankovic is ready to bid for a fourth title in four weeks when she begins play on Thursday. She will play the winner of the first round match between Nadia Petrova of Russia and Italy's Flavia Pennetta.
The top-seeded Serb is virtually guaranteed the year-end number one ranking. It is her second spell at the summit after a brief rise to the top in August, and she says this time she deserves it, no question.
"When I became number one in the world at the Olympics that was the time when I didn't feel I was the real number one, because I wasn't playing well, I was injured and I felt that my game was not there," she said.
"And at the moment I feel that I am playing very well, I'm quite confident and the results are showing. I won three tournaments in a row and I played the final of the US Open and the racquet does the talking." - AFP/de
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