Third seed cruises in first grass match of year
BIRMINGHAM, England -- Third-seeded Maria Sharapova reached the third round of the DFS Classic with a 6-2, 6-2 win over American Jamea Jackson.
The 17-year-old Russian, who was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year and had a first-round bye, needed just 67 minutes to beat Jackson.
"That was my first match on grass and I'm just so happy to be back," said Sharapova, a semifinalist last year.
Second-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland also advanced with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win over Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja.
No. 8 Alicia Molik of Australia won her second-round match against Italian Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (3), 6-4.
In first-round action, Slovak player Daniela Hantuchova beat Yoon Jeong Cho of South Korea 6-3, 6-1.
Hantuchova will next face Tatiana Golovin of France, who reached the second round after her 15th-seeded Russian opponent, Elena Likhovtseva, retired down a set and two games in the second with a viral infection.
Tenth-seeded Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela also went out in the first round, losing 6-2, 6-3 to Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual. Jill Craybas of the United States halted a comeback by No. 13 Claudine Schaul from Luxembourg to win 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-1.
Meanwhile, the WTA announced that French player Marion Bartoli, who was hospitalized Monday after falling during her first-round match, had an acute hip strain. Initial reports suggested she had fractured her hip, but Bartoli was released from the hospital Tuesday and was able to walk on crutches.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press
