Vento-Kabchi upset by Cho at Wismilak tennis tournament

Eva C. Komandjaja and Wahyoe Boedhiwardhana, The Jakarta Post/Nusa Dua, Bali

Sixth seed Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela went down in a surprise defeat to unseeded South Korea's Cho Yoon-jeong 7-5, 6-1 in the opening round of the US$225,000 Wismilak International WTA Tennis Tournament here on Tuesday.

"I have to admit that my strategy did not work against (Chu). She played really well, especially with her backhand shots making me unable to develop my game," world No. 40 Vento-Kabchi said after the game.

"I was feeling pretty down after losing the first game as I knew I was able to win it but I didn't. Now that I've failed in the singles, I think I will put more concentration into the doubles," she said.

Vento-Kabchi made amends for her singles loss by advancing into the next round in the doubles competition, paired with Angelique "Angie" Widjaja of Indonesia

The pair defeated Italy's Maria Elena Camerin and Flavia Penetta 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Another Venezuelan, Milagros Sequera also had the same fate as Vento-Kabchi in the singles, losing to Australia's Samantha Stosur 2-6, 6-7 (5).

Stosur's victory means she faces a tough match against U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the next round.

Other players into the next round included Germany's Marlene Weingartner and Anca Barna, Italy's Flavia Penetta and France's Marion Bartolli.

Weingartner won 6-2, 6-4, beating Marta Domachowska of Poland, while her compatriot won 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 against Argentina's Mariana Diaz-Olivia.

Penetta won 7-6 (2), 6-4 against Nicole Pratt of Australia. She will meet seventh seed Gisela Dulko in the second round.

Dulko eliminated Indonesian Ayu Fani Damayanti on Monday.

Bartolli, who admitted to being exhausted after a long trip from New York, overcame Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 7-6 (5), 6-2.

"This is my second meeting with Anabel and this game was tougher than before. I think she's pretty good but maybe she's better on clay than hard court," Bartolli said.

In the doubles, top seeds Anastasia Myskina of Russia and Japan's Ai Sugiyama scraped past Germany's Anca Barna and Jelena Jankovic in a three-set match full of frustration.

French Open champion Myskina and Sugiyama won the match 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) to face Spanish pair Marta Marrero and Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round.

In the first set, Barna and Jankovic hit brilliant winners early to take a 3-2 lead. Myskina and Sugiyama bounced back to level the score 4-4 before Barna and Jankovic shut them down.

Myskina and Sugiyama then upped their game to take control of the second set, winning easily.

But the third set was the fiercest, with both pairs fighting hard for the lead.

The game got more tense at 3-3, with both sides looking evenly matched.

Jankovic, ranked 324th in the doubles, was often seen venting her frustration by yelling to herself as her shots struck the net, giving her opponents the advantage.

However, living up to her reputation as a world-class tennis player, she forced a series of errors to push her and Barna into a 6-5 lead.

Then Sugiyama improved her game with a series of long powerful backhand smashes which neither Barna or Jankovic could return and the game turned into a 6-6 cliffhanger.

The more experienced Myskina and Sugiyama kept their cool as their opponents lost focus, sending many of their shots wide, and wrapped up the tiebreak 8-6.

In other matches, Spanish pair Marrero and Gabrigues overcame Polish pair Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolka 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. Italy's Tathiana Garbin and Australia's Pratt beat Japanese Akiko Nakamura and Saori Obata 6-4, 6-3.

Third seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Milagros Sequera of Venezuela advanced to the second round after winning 6-0, 6-1 over Claire Grandin of Ireland and South Africa's Natalie Grandin.