MOSCOW - Nikolay Davydenko is certainly playing like he
wants to win another Kremlin Cup.
The top seed and local favorite, Davydenko easily dispatched
compatriot and wild card Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-4, 6-2, in the
second round of the $2.34 million dual-gender indoor event
Wednesday.
However, second-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov suffered an
embarrassing 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) first-round loss to Ukrainian
qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky. Tursunov had won his first career
title at Mumbai, India two weeks ago.
The 2004 champion, Davydenko was coming off an impressive
first-round victory over Jiri Vanek, where he manhandled the
Czech, 6-0, 6-0, for the fourth "double-bagel" on the ATP Tour
this year.
Davydenko's next opponent will be either No. 6 Julien Benneteau
of France or the hard-serving Max Mirnyi of Belarus. Mirnyi had
an abbreviated start to the tournament Wednesday, winning the
first set, 6-0, before American Kevin Kim retired with a back
injury.
In the only other second-round match, Russian wild card Igor
Kunitsyn posted a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Czech Jan Hernych.
Capturing his first win since the opening round at Wimbledon,
seventh seed Fabrice Santoro easily dispatched Wesley Moodie of
South Africa, 6-3, 6-2. It was the first win in six matches for
the Frenchman.
Santoro next will face Russian qualifier Konstantin Kravchuk,
who defeated Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea, 6-4, 6-4.
Eighth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu did not prove as lucky as
compatriot Santoro, falling to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6
(10-8), 6-4.
In another first-round match, wild card Evgeny Korolev of Russia
outlasted qualifier Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7
(5-7), 6-3. His next foe will be Philipp Kohlschreiber of
Germany, who upset third-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
In the women's draw, recently crowned U.S. Open champion Maria
Sharapova claimed a 6-4, 7-5 victory over countrywoman Ekaterina
Bychkova in the second round.
Sharapova was one of four players to receive a bye in the first
round, including top seed Amelie Mauresmo of France, who
captured her first two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open
and Wimbledon and will open against local player Elena Vesnina.
One player unable to benefit from that bye was No. 3 Svetlana
Kuznetsova, who was routed by fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva,
6-1, 6-3.
Kuznetsova had been one of the hottest players on the WTA Tour,
winning consecutive events at Bali and Beijing before losing in
the semifinals to countrywoman Nadia Petrova at Stuttgart last
week.
The fifth-seeded Petrova, who went on to claim her fifth title
of the year at Stuttgart, rolled past German Anna-Lena
Groenefeld in the first round, 6-2, 6-2.
Sixth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland also posted an easy
win, breezing past American Chanda Rubin, 6-3, 6-0.
Samantha Stosur of Australia also advanced with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
victory over Swiss qualifier Emmanuelle Gagliardi.