Schiavone sends Shaughnessy home at Gaz de France
HASSELT, Belgium -- Second-seeded Francesca Schiavone eliminated Meghann Shaughnessy on Tuesday, winning 6-2, 6-1 in less than 50 minutes at the Gaz de France Stars.
Schiavone was the runner-up in last year's tournament to Kim Clijsters.
Third-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia beat lucky loser Andrea Petkovic 6-3, 7-5 and will face another qualifier Angelique Kerber in the second round. Kerber, also of Germany, was leading Romina Oprandi 4-1 in the third set when the Italian retired with an upset stomach.
No. 4-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld and No. 5 Ai Sugiyama ended their seasons with first-round losses.
Sugiyama was beaten 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, who also defeated the Japanese veteran in the Seoul final at the start of the month.
Groenefeld, who won her first career title this year in Acapulco, finished the year in a slump. Her 6-1, 6-3 loss to Aravane Rezai of France was her 13th defeat in 17 matches since June.
Elena Bovina of Russia, runner-up in the inaugural Hasselt final two years ago, was eliminated by lucky loser Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-2. Elena Vesnina of Russia retired because of a cold while trailing Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 4-0.
Other first-round winners included Sandra Kloesel of Germany, and Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
