Dementieva knocks out Hingis

MOSCOW, OCT. 5. Martina Hingis, the top seed of the $1,185,000 WTA Kremlin Cup event, failed to defend her title after she was upset by Russian teenager Elena Dementieva here on Friday.

It was the Russian's first win over Hingis in three meetings.

Dementieva, the eighth seed, started the match with a series of breaks earning a commanding 5-0 lead before Hingis broke back to decrease the home crowd favourite's advantage.

The Russian, however, won the opening set 6-2. The rivals exchanged breaks throughout the second set but 19-year-old Dementieva showed more accuracy at the decisive moments and won the set 6-2 to take the match and revenge for last year's defeat here at the quarterfinal stage.

In Saturday's semifinals Dementieva will face her compatriot, the 20-year-old Anastasia Myskina, who beat Austria's Barbara Schett 6-4, 6-2.

On Thursday, an uncommon playing surface proved futile as top seed Martina Hingis pulled out a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic to qualify for the quarterfinals.

Defending champion Hingis, 21, started the match tentatively, with Kleinova, who was making her first ever main draw appearance in Moscow, allowed to break twice in the opening set.

However, later in the set the Swiss world No. 1 tightened her grip and pulled level minutes before she broke again to win the opening set 7-5 in 39 minutes. The 23-year-old Czech qualifier, ranked 135th in the world, battled back but Hingis' experience told as she packed off her opponent with precision shots to win the second set 6-2 and the match in 63 minutes. Hingis later blamed the new Taraflex surface in Moscow's Olympic indoor stadium for her lack of confidence in the opening set.

``I felt slightly awkward in the beginning as the new carpet was uncommon to me,'' said Hingis, who played her first match since she lost the U.S. Open semifinals this year.

``Kleinova played well, besides she came from qualification and already played four matches on this surface, so she already had some practice on it,'' she added.

In the other second round matches, Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic staged a major upset, eliminating second- seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4. Farina-Elia of Italy escaped a near upset, prevailing over Uzbekistan's Iroda Tulyaganova in a third-set tie-breaker 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).

``I played well, I served well and it helped me a lot. I made few mistakes in the deciding moments and it was the key to the victory,'' Bedanova said.

In another major second-round upset, unseeded Barbara Schett of Austria came back from one set down to down third- seeded Justine Henin of Belgium.

Schett won 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 to set a quarterfinal clash with Russia's wild card entry Anastasia Myskina, who upset seventh- seeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

The 19-year-old Henin, the Wimbledon runner-up to Venus Williams, one set up and 5-4 on her serve in the tenth game of the second set, wasted two points and double faulted to allow Schett to stay in the match.

The two players then held their serves and the set went to a tie- breaker. In the tie-breaker, Schett won four consecutive points to go up 6-2, but Henin fought back to even 6- 6. The Austrian hit a forehand crosscourt shot for the next point before Henin returned wide to lose the tie-breaker and the set.

In the decisive third set, Schett broke Henin, world No. 8, in the third and fifth games to win the set and the match.

Henin, playing her first time at the Kremlin Cup, was playing her first match since she was forced to retire with a thigh injury in the second set of the Big Island Championships finals in Hawaii against Sandrine Testud of France on September 18.

In other early action, fifth-seeded Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, looking for her third title this year, breezed into the quarterfinals past Russian teenager Galina Fokina, a wild card for the tournament, scoring a 6-4, 6-3 victory in 65 minutes.

Dokic, No. 11 in the world, won the Italian Open earlier this year and beat Spanish veteran Arantxa Sanchez- Vicario in straight sets to capture the Toyota Princess Cup in September.

In men's second-round, Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic upset seventh-seeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-1).

Fourth-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany ousted Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, 7-5, 6-2, while Nicolas Kiefer of Germany eliminated Jerome Golmard of France in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

Mahesh-Tarango duo in semifinals

Mahesh Bhupathi, in partnership with Jeff Tarango of the US, defeated the third-seeded Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to move into the doubles semifinals.

The Indo-American pair, which has assured itself of 25,700 dollars, will take on the second-seeded Czech combination of Jiri Novak and David Rikl which downed David Adams of South Africa and Martin Garcia of Argentina 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.

The results: men's singles (second round): Tommy Haas bt Thomas Enqvist 7-5, 6-2; Jiri Novak bt Guillermo Canas 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-1); Nicolas Kiefer bt Jerome Golmard 6-4, 6-3;

Women's quarterfinals: Elena Dementieva bt Martina Hingis 6-2, 6- 2; Anastasia Myskina bt Barbara Schett 6-4, 6-2.

Second round: Martina Hingis bt Sandra Kleinova 7-5, 6-2; Anastasia Myskina bt Magdalena Maleeva 6-4, 3- 6, 6-4; Barbara Schett bt Justine Henin 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2; Jelena Dokic bt Galina Fokina 6-4, 6-3; Silvia Farina-Elia bt Iroda Tulyaganova 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5); Francesca Schiavone bt Nathalie Tauziat 4-6, 7-5, 5-7; Daja Bedanova bt Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-7 (8-6), 6-4.

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