Injury-Ridden Venus Eclipsed at Dubai

"Blisters were a factor, but mostly my stomach wasn't that great," said Venus, who had her hand taped at the end of the opening set. "I did it in the last tournament in the semifinals, and I was serving at 40 percent in the final. The first time I served again was Sunday and there wasn't a lot I could do out there. And when your serve isn't good it throws the rest of your game off too."

Farina Elia led 5-2 in the second before nerves set in, allowing Venus to level the set at 5-5 before closing it out in the tiebreaker.

"I really don't know if I would have played the third, and if I would have won the match I really don't think I would have continued the tournament," Venus said. "Now I'll have to rest it. My next tournament is in Miami in about 20 days. If I'm really fit and ready to go then I'll play. If I'm not, then I won't."

No. 8 seed Patty Schnyder (d. Maleeva) was the other lone seed in action, joined in the second round by un-seeds (WC) Conchita Martinez (d. Asagoe), Serb Jelena Jankovic (d. Suarez), and (WC) Sania Mirza of India who came from a set down to beat Croat Jelena Kostanic 6-1 in the third.

"It was a really good match, I think," said the 18-year-old Mirza, who will now face US Open holder Svetlana Kuznetsova. "Maybe a few points in the first set could have made the difference and maybe I could have won in straight sets. In the third set I told myself that I had to try and get the first two games and I knew that she was going to crack. And that is exactly what happened."

The final round of qualifying was also completed, with four more onto the big dance in France's Marion Bartoli, Russian Vera Douchevina, and China's Na Li and Jie Zheng.

On tap for Tuesday in Dubai are Likhovtseva vs. Sfar, Molik vs. Hantuchova, Mirza vs. Kuznetsova, Farina Elia vs. Jankovic, Medina Garrigues vs. Zheng, Li vs. Sugiyama, Schiavone vs. Bovina, a quality doubles match-up in Ruano Pascual/Suarez vs. Myskina/Sugiyama, Douchevina vs. Dechy, and Dulko vs. Bartoli.