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Aravane Rezai Upset, Safina To Play Clijsters In Cincinnati
By Adrianna Outlaw
© Tony Chang/Chang Photography
(August 9, 2010) Transitioning to hard court tennis has not been an easy adjustment for Aravane Rezai, who likely lost her spot in the top 20 today. The 14th-seeded French woman has won two titles this season, both on clay, but suffered her second straight opening-round exit on hard court in Cincinnati. Serbian qualifier Bojana Jovanovski fought back to upset Rezai 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open.
Despite littering the court with 15 double faults, former World No. 1 Dinara Safina scored her second win in her last eight matches, a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Roberta Vinci, to set up a second-round clash with reigning US Open champion Kim Clijsters. A year ago, the then top-ranked Safina defeated Clijsters, who was playing the first tournament of her comeback, in the Cincinnati quarterfinals. A year later, Clijsters comes into the tournament as the fourth seed, while Safina, who was sidelined for three months with a back injury and has produced some abysmal results since her return, has seen her ranking fall to No. 35.
The seventh-ranked Clijsters holds a 6-2 career edge over Safina in what has been a schizophrenic match-up: Clijsters did not drop a set in winning their first six meetings played between 2004 and 2006 and Safina has not surrendered a set in their last two matches.
Rezai, who lost to 28th-ranked Alisa Kleybanova in the opening round of last week's Mercury Insurance Open, dropped serve twice in the final set today. Rezai entered the event with a 29-point lead in the rankings over compatriot Marion Bartoli. But Rezai's loss, combined with Bartoli's 6-4, 6-0 thrashing of Anabel Medina Garrigues means Bartoli will surpass Rezai when the new WTA Tour rankings are released on Monday.
Last month, Rezai blasted her way to the Bastad title on red clay. Rezai defeated Argentina's Gisela Dulko for the first time, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, to win the Swedish Open title in Bastad.
It was the second title of the year for the hard-hitting French woman, who beat a trio of former World No. 1 players — Justine Henin, Jankovic and Venus Williams — to win the Madrid title in May.
World No. 98 Jovanovski will face the towering Akgul Amanmuradova with the winner potentially playing top-seeded Jelena Jankovic, Jovanovski's teammate on the Serbian Fed Cup squad.
In a first-round match of qualifiers, Amanmuradova crushed 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm, 6-1, 6-1. Date Krumm beat Safina in Stanford last month.
Vera Dushevina topped Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 7-6 (7) in another match of qualifiers to set up a second-round meeting with Jankovic. Nuria Llagostera Vives rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Wimbledon winner Vania King. Sara Errani rolled over Jamie Hampton, 6-4, 6-2.
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