Dubai: There were fluctuating fortunes for Russian players on the opening day of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships that got under way at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Monday.
Russian pin-up Maria Kirilenko, who was the last direct acceptance here this year, was the first to depart following her 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.
But Dinara Safina, younger sister of former world No 1 Marat Safin, had a comparatively easy outing for a 6-1, 6-3 victory against the Arab region's top women's player Selima Sfar.
Yet another Russian advancing to the second round was eighth seed Elena Dementieva with a 7-5, 6-0 win against Swiss girl Patty Schnyder, who is ranked one place below her at No 12.
This was a pretty much anti-climax match as both players battled well in the first set till Dementieva came up with a crucial break in the 11th game to win the set 7-5. She then breezed through the second set winning it comfortably 6-0 to advance to a second round meeting against Bondarenko.
Damage done
Safina was clinical in her approach against Tunisian Sfar as she took just over half an hour to win the first set 6-1. An early break and held serve in the second saw the Russian go 2-0 up. But she seemed to fumble towards the end, allowing Sfar to break. But the damage had been done much before as Safina reeled in her anger and took the set and match 6-3.
"I was angry with myself and I wanted to prove to the people that I was capable of winning the point at any cost, and I am glad I achieved it in the end," Safina said.
For Kirilenko, winner of the year-end Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge here, it was a disappointing performance after she had done the early damage by taking the first set 6-3. She allowed her Ukrainian opponent to settle in as Bondarenko powered her way to draw on level terms with a 6-3 win in the second.
In the third set, Bondarenko broke Kirilenko in the third game and then held serve to go clear 3-1. From there she powered on for a 5-1 lead only to lose the next game and ultimately win 6-2.
"The clue lay in me cutting down on the number of mistakes I was making," Bondarenko said.
Ranked a distant 106, Alona teamed up with older sister Katerina to clinch the doubles title at this year's Australian Open. Two weeks back, the sisterly duo did it once again to win the Paris Indoors.
Results
Singles: Alona Bondarenko bt Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (1), 6-0; Dinara Safina bt Selima Sfar 6-1, 6-3; Elena Dementieva bt Patty Schnyder 7-5, 6-0.
Final Round Qualifying: Katarina Srebotnik bt Akiko Morigami 7-6 (1), 6-0; Ekaterina Makarova bt Akgul Amanmuradova 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2; Anabel Medina Garrigues bt Monica Niculescu 6-2, 6-4; Aiko Nakamura bt Andreja Klepac 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5); Vera Dushevina bt Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3; Agnieszka Radwanska bt Jie Zheng 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Order of Play:
Centre Court: Start at 2 pm: Anna Chakvetadze vs Agnieszka Radwanska; Sania Mirza vs Vera Dushevina; (7 pm) Maria Sharapova vs Agnes Szavay; Amelie Mauresmo vs Anabel Medina Garrigues.
Court No. 1: Start at 2 pm: Sybille Bammer vs Ekaterina Makarova; Francesca Schiavone vs Marion Bartoli; Vladimira Uhlirova/Galina Voskoboeva vs Stephanie Foretz/Selima Sfar; Cara Black/Liezel Huber vs Shuai Peng vs Tiantian Sun.
Court No. 3: Start at 2 pm: Lucie Safarova vs Li Na; Nadia Petrova vs Katarina Srebotnik; Aiko Nakamura vs Nicole Vaidisova.
