Seles advances, Sanchez-Vicario ousted at Madrid Open

MADRID (TICKER) — Top seed Monica Seles of the United States moved on, but two more seeds fell Wednesday in the second round of the $170,000 Madrid Open claycourt tennis tournament.
Seles, who had a bye in the first round, moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Spain’s Marta Marrero. American Chanda Rubin had the biggest upset of the day, posting a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Four seeded players lost in the first round on Tuesday.

Fifth seed Anna Smashnova of Israel avoided an upset Wednesday as she defeated Australian Alicia Molik, 7-5. 6-2. But No. 8 Rita Grande of Italy was ousted by Columbian Fabiola Zuluaga, 7-5, 7-5.

Argentina’s Paola Suarez eliminated highly touted Russian Dinara Safina, 7-5, 6-1. The 16-year-old Safina, a qualifier and the younger sister of ATP star Marat Safin, reached the semifinals at Estoril last month.

Emilie Loit of France defeated Zimbabwe’s Cara Black, 6-4, 6-4 and qualifier Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina followed up a win over sixth seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 victory over Spain’s Marissa Irvin.

Spaniard Magui Serna, who eliminated sixth-seeded Croatian Iva Majoli in the first round, dispatched Australian Nicole Pratt, 6-2, 6-2.

First prize at this event, which serves as a final warmup for next week’s French Open, is $27,000.