Japanese ace Ai Sugiyama continued her losing streak on Tuesday when she fell to Roberta Vinci of Italy in the opening round of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament. The fifth-seeded Sugiyama, first-round loser at the Gold Coast, Sydney and the Australian Open this season, went down 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to the 117th-ranked Italian.
Earlier in the day, seventh seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro became the first seed to fall when she lost to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.
"I was really looking forward to this tournament because it's my home ground and the surface is fast. I really wanted to make it a good stepping stone," said Sugiyama, ranked 21st.
"I couldn't practice well before the start of the season. I had to heal my sprained left ankle first. It's not still perfect and I'm not playing well mentally too.
"First of all, I must recover from the injury as soon as possible and regain my top form, hopefully before the French Open and other Grand Slams. But you can't play many matches unless you keep winning so I'm going to concentrate on winning my next match," she added.
Hosts Japan secured two berths in the second round, with Saori Obata and Shinobu Asagoe beating fellow Japanese players.
Obata trounced Miho Saeki 6-0, 6-1 to book a place against world number one Lindsay Davenport of the United States, and Asagoe downed Yuka Yoshida 6-2, 6-1 for a place against Vinci.
Maria Kirilenko of Russia brushed aside China's Peng Shuai 6-3, 6-2, while qualifier Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian of Switzerland outclassed Nicole Pratt of Australia 6-4, 6-3.
RESULTS (x denotes seeds):
SINGLES (1ST ROUND): Saori Obata (JPN) bt Miho Saeki (JPN) 6-0, 6-1; Iveta Benesova (CZE) bt Jelena Jankovic (SEM x7) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1; Maria Kirilenko (RUS) bt Peng Shuai (CHN) 6-3, 6-2; Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian (SWI) bt Nicole Pratt (AUS) 6-4, 6-3; Roberta Vinci (ITA) bt Ai Sugiyama (JPN x5) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
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