Sania Mirza crashed out of the WTA Kremlin Cup in the first round going down 3-6, 4-6 to Argentine Gisela Dulko in Moscow on Tuesday.

The 29th ranked Indian could not find her bearings and went out of the US$ 2,340,000 Tier I tournament in an hour and 15 minutes.

Sania was coming off a quarterfinal appearance at the Japan Open but could not continue her good form. Her serve again let her down as she sent down as many as nine double faults. She won only 48 per cent of points on her first serve and 26 per cent on her second while committing 40 unforced errors in comparison to her opponent’s 31.

The Hyderabadi’s returns were good as she broke the 41-ranked Dulko five times but returned the favour on seven occasions. Dulko made a hat-trick of wins over the Indian star after getting the better of Sania at the 2005 French Open and the Tier III event at Pattaya City in Thailand in February this year.

In the doubles, Sania Mirza and Patty Schnyder of Switzerland beat Vera Dushevina of Russia and Tatiana Perebiyinis of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3 in the first round.  

Davydenko through
Russia's Nikolay Davydenko began the defence of his Kremlin Cup title in workmanlike fashion by beating unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6, 6-2 in the first round, adds Reuters from Moscow.

Fourth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, who won his first career title here in 2002, also moved swiftly into the second round with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over fellow Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.

In the women’s section Russian Elena Dementieva beat Austrian Alicia Molik 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 and the eight seed Nicole Vaidisova of Czech Republic beat Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia 7-6(3), 6-3 to move into the second round.
Other results (number preceeds seeding): Women: Tatiana Perebiynis (Ukr) bt Michaella Krajicek (Net) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5; Elena Vesnina (Rus) bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Swi) 6-2, 6-4.

Men: Kristof Vliegen (Bel) bt Viktor Troicki (Ser) 6-3, 2-2 (Troicki retired); Igor Kunitsyn (Rus) bt Diego Hartfield (Arg) 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-1; Marin Cilic (Cro) bt Simone Bolelli (Italy) 6-3, 6-4; Michael Berrer (Ger) bt Jose Acasuso (Argentina) 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4.

Moya crashes out
Carlos Moya and Marcos Baghdatis both crashed out in the first round Vienna Open on Monday, reports Reuters from Vienna.

Sixth-seeded Spaniard Moya was beaten 7-6, 5-7, 6-2 by local Stefan Koubek, while Cypriot eighth seed Baghdatis went down to Italy's Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-2.