Kuznetsova given rough ride

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:45

The French Open champion appeared to be cruising at a set and a break up but Zheng rallied, taking the second set on a tie-break and then moving ahead in the third.

However, Russian Kuznetsova dug deep and fought back to triumph 6-1 6-7 (5/7) 6-4.

Another big name in trouble was Polish fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who was also a break down in the decider before coming through 2-6 6-2 7-6 (7/5) against qualifier Roberta Vinci.

Eighth seed Amelie Mauresmo was a lot more comfortable in a 6-4 6-1 victory over Japan’s Ai Sugiyama.

Days after reaching the semi-finals in Toronto, Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova was sent packing in round one in New Haven, beaten 3-6 6-1 6-4 by Belgian qualifier Yanina Wickmayer.

In the men’s draw, Marcos Baghdatis’ miserable season continued as he slumped to a 6-4 6-3 defeat at the hands of Portugal’s Frederico Gil.

Home star Sam Querrey became the first man into the third round, the sixth seed letting slip a break advantage in the second set against Marc Gicquel before coming through 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-2.

Three Americans reached the second round, with Robert Kendrick beating Frederik Nielsen 6-3 7-5 to set up a meeting with top seed Nikolay Davydenko while Kevin Kim battled past Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-4 5-7 6-3 and Rajeev Ram saw off qualifier Nicolas Lapentti 7-5 1-6 7-6 (7/3).

Jose Acasuso won a battle of the Argentinians against Maximo Gonzalez 6-1 6-7 (7/9) 6-2 while Italy’s Simone Bolelli downed Christophe Rochus 6-3 6-4.

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