France’s Amelie Mauresmo crashed at the first hurdle in the $2,3-million Kremlin Cup on Thursday, going out 6-1, 6-1 in the second round of the WTA event to Italy’s Francesca Schiavone.
Mauresmo, the second seed, looked weary after her loss to American Lindsay Davenport in the final of the Grand Prix in Filderstadt, Germany on Sunday.
Unheralded Schiavone (25) broke the world number four’s serve three times in the opening set which she took in 30 minutes.
Schiavone, ranked 22nd, rushed to a 5-0 lead in the second before Mauresmo chalked up her first point of the set, but she could not stop the Italian who sealed her place in the quarterfinals on her third match point.
”I was very focused, very motivated today and managed to impose my tactics,” Schiavone said after achieving just her second win in six meetings with the Frenchwoman.
”I just did everything a little bit better than her [Mauresmo].”
”Today it was one of these days when everything goes wrong,” said Mauresmo, a finalist here in 2003.
”Nothing I did today worked right.
”The surface here is slightly sticky and slow so I felt strange especially after the very fast courts at Filderstadt.
”I had a bye and she [Schiavone] had more practice here but it’s not an excuse for my poor performance today.”
Earlier Svetlana Kuznetsova won an all-Russian battle with the eight seed defeating compatriot Vera Zvonareva 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in their second round tie. – AFP
