Chardy ousts Verdasco

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:06

The Spaniard headed into this tournament on a high after beating Andy Roddick in the SAP Open final in San Jose on Sunday, but could not continue his good run in Memphis as unseeded Frenchman Chardy secured a 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 first-round win.

Seventh seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany was also eliminated on Tuesday as Kazakhstan’s Evgeny Korolev triumphed 7-5 7-5.

Tomas Berdych, the fifth seed from Czech Republic, enjoyed an altogether more comfortable route to round two with a 6-2 6-1 win over American qualifier Ryan Sweeting.

Latvian youngster Ernests Gulbis and Finn Jarkko Nieminen advanced in straight sets at the expense of American Robert Kendrick and Israel’s Dudi Sela respectively.

Croatian Ivo Karlovic, Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu, Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko and American Michael Russell all also progressed to round two on Tuesday.

In the WTA Cellular South Cup, meanwhile, fourth seed Lucie Hradecka was a surprise early loser. Unseeded Croatian Karolina Sprem beat the Czech player 6-4 6-4.

Second seed Melanie Oudin encountered few problems in getting past fellow American Alexa Glatch 6-2 6-2 while another American, Lilia Osterloh, came from a set down to despatch Canada’s Stephanie Dubois 3-6 6-4 6-4.

British number one Elena Baltacha, seeded eight in Memphis, continued her fine recent form with a 7-5 6-1 triumph over Czech Renata Voracova while Czech wild card Nicole Vaidisova advanced with a 6-4 6-2 victory over American Laura Granville.

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