Qualifier sends fifth seed packing

Qualifier Yurika Sema of Japan caused the first major upset by sidelining fifth seed Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine in the opening round of the Sony Ericsson International Bangalore Open tennis tournament

Qualifier Yurika Sema of Japan caused the first major upset by sidelining fifth seed Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine in the opening round of the Sony Ericsson International Bangalore Open tennis tournament which began here today.

The 237th-ranked Japanese clinched the affair 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the prize money 175,000 WTA event at the KSLTA Signature Kingfisher Tennis Center.

Fedak, ranked 75th, failed to counter Sema once she changed gears in the next two sets. Sema said she was in good form at present and feeling great after the win.

India8217;s 18-year-old wild card entry Tara Iyer, ranked 550, lost in straight sets 0-6, 2-6 to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.

Fourth seed Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia struggled in first set of her first round match against wild card Sophie Ferguson of Australia. But she came back with a full force winning 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 after firing on all cylinders in the next two sets.

Seventh-seed veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand had a facile victory over one of the qualifiers and debutants Chin-Wei Chan of Chinese Taipei 6-3, 6-3.

In the first doubles match of the tournament, Olga and Sunitha Rao of the United States ran out of luck failing to match the serves of Alberta Brianti of Italy and Mariya Koryttseva, who won 7-5, 6-4.

Story continues below this ad

Sania begins her singles campaign tomorrow against Slovakian Martina Sucha.

Results first round

Singles: Tzipora Obziler Isr bt Alla Kudryavtseva Rus 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Tamarine Tanasugarn Tha bt Chin-Wei Chan Tpe 6-3, 6-3; Olga Savchuk Ukr bt Mariya Koryttseva Ukr 6-4, 6-4; Jelena Kostanic Tosic Cro bt Sophie Ferguson Aus 2-6, 6-1, 6-1; Yulia Beygelzimer Ukr bt Nudnida Luangnam Tha 6-2, 6-1; Yurika Sema Jpn bt Yuliana Fedak Ukr 1-6, 6-3, 6-4; Su-Wei Hsieh Tpe bt Sandra Kloesel Ger 6-2, 6-4; Tatiana Poutchek Blr bt Meng Yuan Chn 6-2, 6-0; Valsilisa Bardina Rus bt Kristina Barrois Ger 7-6, 4-6, 6-7; Akgul Amanmuradova Uzb Jarmila Gajdosova Svk 6-3,6-3; Dominika Cibulkova Svk bt Tara Iyer Ind 6-0, 6-2.