BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain - On a day when play was cut short by torrential rain, the top two seeds at the DFS Classic, Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic, both avoided the summer showers to take their place in the third round of the $200,000, Tier III event.
Sharapova, champion here in 2004 and 2005, required little more than an hour to defeat qualifier Lilia Osterloh and reach the third round in Birmingham for the fifth consecutive year. The 20-year-old top seed took a while to find her rhythm on the slick grass courts of the Edgbaston Priory Club, but after snatching a close first set she moved through the gears to record a 64 60 victory.
"Considering I didn't have a lot of time to practice, I thought it went well," Sharapova said, "you can't expect yourself to go out and hit winners left, right and centre. I love being back in Birmingham and I'm glad to have got a win in front of my fans here."
Next up for Sharapova will be teenage sensation Tamira Paszek, who delivered a mature performance to oust No.13 seed Meilen Tu, 62 76(2). The other seed to fall on day 3 of the tournament was Japan's Ai Sugiyama, who lost a seesaw encounter with her compatriot and training partner Ayumi Morita. A close first set was just shaded by Morita, but the gifted 17-year-old lost her way somewhat in the second and No.7 seed Sugiyama capitalized to take the match into a decider. After falling 2-0 behind in the final set it appeared experience would triumph over youth, but Morita promptly reeled off the next six games to stun Sugiyama and book a place in the next round with a 64 16 62 victory.
Jankovic, runner-up here in 2005, had little trouble disposing of Bulgarian teenager Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday, winning her first grass-court match of the season, 64 61. Pironkova battled bravely in the first set, but she ran out of steam in the second and Jankovic raced to her 45th victory of the year in a fraction over an hour. Standing between the 22-year-old from Serbia and a place in the quarterfinals will be Maria Kirilenko and the No.2 seed will be hoping for a repeat performance of her straight-set victory over the Russian in San Diego last year.
"In the first set I was struggling a bit and making a lot of errors," Jankovic said, "but in the second set I started to find my rhythm. Overall I'm happy with my performance, especially as it's my first match on grass after the clay court season."
Undoubtedly the most exciting match of the day was the three-set thriller between No.8 seed Mara Santangelo and Indian star Sania Mirza. Italy's Santangelo started the match in confident fashion and with Mirza struggling to deal with her aggressive tennis it was no surprise when she wrapped-up the opening set in under half an hour. Mirza hit back to take the second set and when she moved 5-3 ahead in the decider, her place in the third round looked all but assured. However, Santangelo showed tremendous character to fend off two match points, before edging a tense tie-break to win an absorbing encounter, 63 36 76(6).
The other Top 8 seeds on display, Marion Bartoli and Alona Bondarenko, enjoyed considerably smoother passages into the third round, both players coming through their first grass court tests of the season with flying colors. No.5 seed Bartoli needed just 68 minutes to dismiss home favorite Naomi Cavaday 63 61, while No.6 Bondarenko was just as swift in knocking out Chan Yung-Jan, 63 64.
Slovenian qualifier Andreja Klepac had to come through two rounds of qualifying just to take her place in the main draw and on Wednesday afternoon she gave No.9 seed Julia Vakulenko a real scare out on Court 4 before finally going down, 46 76(5) 36. Joining Vakulenko in the next round will be three players who have never been this far in Birmingham before; Yuliana Fedak, Angelique Kerber and Vania King, all of whom scored impressive victories before the rain arrived.
Thursday is third-round day in Birmingham and every player left in the singles draw will be in action. The crowds on centre court will be treated to some potentially fascinating matches, with Sharapova, Jankovic and Hantuchova all scheduled on the tournament's show court. (WTA)
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