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Loit earns second-round clash with Clijsters

LOS ANGELES: France’s Emilie Loit and Russian youngster Maria Sharapova were among unseeded players to advance early Monday as the $635,000 WTA Tour event got underway here Monday.

Loit defeated South Korea’s Cho Yoon Jeong 6-3, 6-2 to earn a second-round clash with top-seeded Belgian Kim Clijsters, the world number two who like all the top 16 seeds has a first-round bye.

Sharapova, 16, defeated Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik in similarly short order 6-3, 6-1. “It was a pretty good match, I felt pretty good,” said Sharapova, who hadn’t played on the WTA Tour since reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon. “I hadn’t really played a big match since Wimbledon. It was pretty exciting for me. “My game was there. I could have played a little bit better, but it was solid.”

The number of tournaments Sharapova can enter is limited by tour rules designed to prevent burnout and injury among young players, but the teenager is chafing to play more. “I definitely think there could be some changes,” Sharapova said. “But a rule is a rule, and you’ve just got to go with the flow. “I’d rather play tournaments in the US than going to, for example, Japan and playing some tournaments that I’ve played before.” She said her family has spoken with WTA Tour chief executive officer Larry Scott about perhaps bending the rule. “So there have been some discussions,” she said. “I hope it will be successful. It’ll help my career, definitely.” Three unseeded French players fell at the first hurdle. Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn survived two set points in the 12th game of the first set en route to a 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 victory over Mary Pierce. After taking the tiebreaker, Tamarine won three straight games to open the second set before Pierce sought treatment for a sore muscle, which caused pain in her back and side.

Pierce then won the next two games to get the set back on serve. “You know Mary’s never going to give up,” Tamarine said. “And she really tried after her medical time-out.” The two traded breaks in four of the last five games, Tamarine finally holding at love to take the match.

American Tara Snyder advanced past Marion Bartoli when the French teen retired with a strained right elbow. Snyder won the first set 6-3 and was up 4-2 when Bartoli bowed out. Japan’s Saori Obata downed France’s Virginie Razzano 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. The tournament is being held for the first time at the Home Depot Center, the new multi-sports complex in Carson, south of downtown Los Angeles, after 21 years at the Manhattan Beach Country Club.

Clijsters comes into the tournament having reached the semi-finals in all 13 of her tournaments this season, and has a chance to take the world number one ranking from Serena Williams. Williams, who has held the number one spot for 56 weeks, since winning Wimbledon in 2002, had left knee surgery last week and will be unable to defend her US Open title. Clijsters, 20, lost to countrywoman Justin Henin-Hardenne in the finals at San Diego on Sunday. Henin-Hardenne, the French Open champion, is not entered this week. “There’s always if, if, if,” Clijsters said of possibly ascending to the number one spot. “That’s something that I don’t even think about. “Even if I was ranked number seven, I still want to win my matches. I’m going to go out with the same attitude and try to win my matches and not worry about how many points I’m going to get. I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I had to think about all of those things.” Hometown favorite Lindsay Davenport, last year’s runner-up, is seeded second. Defending champion Chanda Rubin is third followed by Japan’s Ai Sugiyama and Jelena Dokic of Serbia and Montenegro. —AFP

Kim stands by gamesmanship charge

Kim Clijsters doesn’t make a habit of backing down on the tennis court, and she wasn’t backing down Monday from her charge that fellow Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne isn’t above a little gamesmanship in a tennis match. Clijsters, who lost to Henin-Hardenne in the final at San Diego on Sunday, denied that it was poor sportsmanship that prompted her to suggest that her opponent might not have needed an injury time out to treat blisters on her foot. “It’s her full right to do it,” Clijsters said of the five-minute time out, which Henin-Hardenne took after losing the first set. But she added: “Sometimes she was limping after a point that she lost, then next point she was running all the balls down. Those were like little signs where I thought maybe she’s faking it a little bit.”

Clijsters insisted she didn’t intend to take anything away from Henin-Hardenne’s performance. “I don’t like losing, but I think I give a lot of credit to my opponents.” —AFP

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