Serena, Mirza Make Shock Exits; Murray to Face Federer in Davis Cup?

For Sun, who hadn't beaten a Top 50 player until this year's US Open, the Top 10 scalp in front of the home fans was a breakthrough.

"I never expected to win," Sun said. "It's definitely a breakthrough but it's not a miracle. I played the way I always play. It will give me a big confidence boost."

It was the second first-round loss of the year for the younger Williams sister, who went out first round on clay at Rome to Francesca Schiavone.

Another Chinese produced an upset when wildcard Jie Zheng toppled (6) Jelena Jankovic in three sets, and Japan's Shinobu Asagoe upset (7) Tatiana Golovin in straight sets.

No. 9 Anna-Lena Groenefeld was the only seeded winner on the day, breezing past Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

Other winners Wednesday were Israel's Shahar Peer (d. Douchevina, bagel in the second), Poland's Marta Domachowska (d. Shaughnessy), and China's Shuai Peng (d. Diaz-Oliva 7-6 in the third).

On court Thursday are Kirilenko vs. Nakamura, Sharapova vs. Peer, Zheng vs. Domachowska, Llagostera Vives vs. Venus, and Craybas vs. Asagoe.

Mirza Bagels Then Balks at WTA Kolkata

The WTA stop at Kolkata lost its main attraction Wednesday when No. 3 seed Sania Mirza made a stunning exit to little-known Hungarian Melina Czink.

Most shocking was the fashion of the loss, rolling through the first set 6-0 before dropping the next two 6-4, 6-4.

"It was just one of those days. I started really well but she improved a lot in the second set," Mirza said. "I managed to fight back well in the third set from 4-1, and the crowd really lifted me, but it just wasn't meant to be. Some days you win these matches, some days you lose them."

Mirza served up 10 double faults and a series of shaky unforced errors that handed the win to the No. 121-ranked Czink.

"I realized Sania was not as confident on court as she usually is," Czink said. "I told myself that if I lose, I will lose well."

Seeded winners Wednesday were (1) Anastasia Myskina (d. Gallovits 1-and-0), (2) Elena Likhovtseva (d. Fedak), and (7) Karolina Sprem (d. Dominikovic).

Indian fans took some solace on the day when Shika Uberoi upset No. 8-seeded Rika Fujiwara of Japan in straight sets.

"The support here this week has been amazing," said the Florida-based Uberoi. "It's something I've never had before, and I'm really enjoying playing in front of the Indian crowd. I hope I can keep going in this tournament, it's my first quarterfinal."

Other unseeded winners were Russian Galina Voskoboeva (d. Azarenka), Austrian Sybille Bammer (d. Pratt), and Estonian Kaia Kanepi (d. (WC) Ruano Pascual 6-1 in the third).

On tap for Thursday in Kolkata are Sprem vs. Castellvi, Rao vs. Likhovtseva, Camerin vs. Bammer, Voskoboeva vs. Myskina, and An.Serra Zanetti vs. Arvidsson.

Peschke Punked at WTA Portoroz

No. 125-ranked Frenchwoman Severine (the former Beltrame) Bremond scored the upset of the day Wednesday at the WTA stop in Portoroz, ousting No. 3 seed Kveta Peschke 6-0, 6-4 to gain her first WTA quarterfinal of the year.

Seeds advancing into the quarters were (4) Klara Koukalova (d. Kloesel from a bagel set down), (6) Katarina Srebotnik (d. (Q) Bachmann), and (8) Roberta Vinci (d. Ondraskova).

American Meilen Tu won her first-round match, besting Tunisia's Selima Sfar in straight sets.

Scheduled for Thursday are M.Zec Peskiric vs. Medina Garrigues, Henke vs. Bychkova, Tu vs. Benesova, and Ani vs. Daniilidou.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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