Cohen-Aloro falters at last hurdle

Dubai: Frenchwoman Stephanie Cohen-Aloro fell at the very last hurdle in the qualifying round of the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open.

Cohen-Aloro, who had her best singles ranking at No 61 in the beginning of October in 2003, won 6-2, 6-3 against India's Shikha Uberoi early in the first round. However, Cohen-Aloro – a member of the French Fed Cup team - succumbed in the next round when she went down in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 against Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova.

Cibulkova will now meet Vera Dushevina of Russia in the final round of qualifying at 12.30pm today.

Also one step away from qualifying were Anne Kremer and Viktoriya Kutuzova following swift wins yesterday. Kremer battled through three sets before winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 against top seed in the qualifiers Agnieszka Radwanska.

Climbing her way through quite easily was former top-100 player Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ekaterina Ivanova. Gagliardi, will now meet the winner of the match between Agnes Szavay and Emilia Salerni.

Results

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro bt Shikha Uberoi 6-2, 6-3; Anne Kremer bt Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Viktoriya Kutuzova bt Kateryna Bondarenko 5-7, 7-5, 6-2; Alberta Brianti bt Adriana Barna 6-2, 6-0; Dominika Cibulkova bt Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1, 6-2; Emmanuelle Gagliardi bt Ekaterina Ivanova 6-3, 6-4; Tamira Paszek bt Vanessa Henke 6-1, 6-2.