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Journalism of Courage
Andy Murray was comfortable and Dinara Safina was anything but,as both won their first-round matches at the US Open on Tuesday. Murray,seeded second,had a 7-5 6-3 7-5 win over Latvia8217;s Ernests Gulbis. The Scot,who lost to Roger Federer in last years final,will play Chiles Paul Capdeville in round two as he aims to become the first Briton in 63 years to win a Grand Slam tournament.
Serbias Novak Djokovic crushed Croatia8217;s Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-1 6-3,but among the seeded casualties were Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland and Croatias Ivo Karlovic,who lost to Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador and Spaniard Ivan Navarro respectively.
Ivanovic knocked out
Elena Dementieva,Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki all breezed into the second round with straight-sets victories,but Ana Ivanovic crashed out early for the second year running,beaten 2-6 6-3 7-6 7 by Kateryna Bondarenko. The Serb had the worst showing ever by a top-seeded woman in New York last year when she exited in the second round. In 2009,she didn8217;t even make it that far.
Russias Maria Sharapova made her belated first Grand Slam appearance of the year,beating Bulgarias Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-3 6-0.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo lost in the second round on Wednesday,falling to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-4,6-0. The 17th-seeded Mauresmo made 31 unforced errors and hit only nine winners. Wozniak advanced to a third-round match against 10th-seeded Flavia Pennetta. On the mens side,13th seed Gael Monfils had no such trouble against compatriot Jeremy Chardy,sending him crashing with a 6-1 6-4 6-3 win.
Key results
Mens singles first round: Gael Monfils FRA bt Jeremy Chardy FRA 6-1 6-4 6-3; Ivan Navarro ESP bt Ivo Karlovic CRO 6-4 7-6 8 7-6 5; Nicolas Lapentti ECU bt Stanislas Wawrinka SUI 4-6 3-6 7-6 6 7-6 3 6-3; Sam Querrey USA bt Michael Yani USA 6-3 7-5 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez CHI bt Nicolas Massu CHI 6-3 6-3 6-3; Novak Djokovic SRB bt Ivan Ljubicic CRO 6-3 6-1 6-3; Fernando Verdasco ESP bt Benjamin Becker GER 7-5 6-4 7-5. Womens singles second round: Li Na CHN bt Michelle Larcher de Brito POR 6-1 6-3; Aleksandra Wozniak CAN bt Amelie Mauresmo FRA 6-4 6-0; Elena Vesnina RUS bt Jill Craybas USA 7-6 6 6-1.
