With the exception of Svetlana Kuznetsova, the only tennis star left standing today at both the Kremlin Cup and PTT Bangkok Open was Venus Williams – and she did not even complete her first round match.
Rain, heat, and upsets were the order of business in Moscow and Bangkok on Wednesday.
After completing six singles matches today, the Kremlin Cup waved goodbye to four of its top eight seeds before the start of the third round.
Second seed Maria Sharapova lost her first match back since the US Open in straight sets to Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka 7-6(9), 6-2. Sharapova accepted a wildcard into Moscow last week in hopes of qualifying for the season-ending Championships.
Fifth seed Marion Bartoli was knocked out of the tournament by another wildcard, Vera Dushevina. The Wimbledon finalist captured the first set 6-2, only to surrender a bagel set before losing 2-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Sixth seed Amelie Mauresmo’s 2007 season continues to grow worse by the week as the two-time Grand Slam champion lost in the first round to Vera Zvonareva 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Seventh seed Patty Schnyder stumbled out at the hands of Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-4.
The tennis outlook was no brighter across the globe in Bangkok, Thailand. The Tier IV tournament was fortunate to secure two top 10 players, only to lose one of them in the first round.
The blistering heat forced top seed Jelena Jankovic to retire while tied with China’s Zi Yan 6-4, 6-7(5).
Venus Williams appeared to be headed for a routine, straight sets victory over Caroline Wozniacki when two games away from the win, rain postponed the match at 6-2, 4-1.
Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova did manage to advance into the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup after a hard-fought 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Gisela Dulko.
[...] Venus Williams is also left standing, but her first round match at the PTT Bangkok Open is still not finished. She was two games away from win when rain postponed her match against Caroline Wozniacki at the result 6-2 4-1. (via On the Baseline) [...]