Hantuchova loses Dubai opener to Chakvetadze
Pattaya Open winner Daniela Hantuchova became dizzy for a time while losing to Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the Dubai Championships on Tuesday.
- Associated Press
- Updated: February 15, 2011 07:01 PM IST
Pattaya Open winner Daniela Hantuchova became dizzy for a time while losing to Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the Dubai Championships on Tuesday.
Hantuchova beat world No. 3 Vera Zvonareva en route to collecting her first title in nearly four years in humid Thailand on Sunday, but couldn't get going against Chakvetadze.
Hantuchova said she became dizzy and "couldn't keep track of the score" at one point.
"Felt like I didn't have much energy on the court," the Slovak said. "I was trying and I know the tennis was not very pretty. I was trying my best. ... Physically, it was just impossible today."
Sara Errani of Italy, who lost in the Pattaya final, had a lot more energy to beat Slovak qualifier Zuzana Kucova 6-1, 6-4.
Another Italian, Flavia Pennetta, landed only 43 percent of her first serves but still swept aside wild card Jelena Dokic of Australia 6-2, 6-2.
Pennetta, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and won her first Grand Slam doubles title there, took advantage of a string of unforced errors and 11 double faults from Dokic, a quarterfinalist last week in Paris.
"She can play good tennis but she made a lot of mistakes," Pennetta said. "It's not easy to play the first match in a tournament. And it was really windy outside. The weather, it's really strange here."
Shahar Peer of Israel, a semifinalist last year, beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-4, 6-1 in their opener.
Peer jumped out to 3-0 in the first set only to see Martinez Sanchez come back to tie it at 4. Peer went up 5-4 and broke Sanchez to take the set. The Spaniard, weakened by a flu and coughing during the match, couldn't keep up in the second set.
Peer, barred from the 2009 tournament because she's Israeli, has extra security and her own compound this year. Still, she said she felt very comfortable in Dubai where she lost to Venus Williams last year and was seeded ninth this year.
"Obviously, I played good last year. When you go back to a tournament that you played good, you want to repeat that," Peer said.