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Injury forces Sania to concede match to Govortsova

February 20, 2008 08:46 IST

Olga Govortsova of Belarus was handed a second-round clash against top seed Ana Ivanovic [ Images ] at the Qatar Open when Indian opponent Sania Mirza [ Images ] was forced to retire with cramp in the third set of their match on Tuesday.

Govortsova, the world number 50, lost the opening set 6-4 and saved two match points in the second before taking it 7-5 in a tiebreak.

She went 3-2 up in the third when Mirza called a halt to the match.

"I felt it in my left calf and it was the worst time because I had just broken her and I was serving for the match," Mirza, who first felt the problem at 4-4 in the second, told reporters.

"Then my left hamstring started going, then my groin and right calf and I couldn't move. I couldn't go down on my serve anymore because my calf wouldn't let me."

Marion Bartoli [ Images ], seeded eight, suffered a 6-2, 6-3 defeat by 17-year old Caroline Wozniacki [ Images ] of Denmark in the second round, continuing her run of indifferent results since she reached the 2007 Wimbledon [ Images ] final.

Agnes Szavay [ Images ] of Hungary, seeded 13, was beaten 7-6, 6-0 by Japan's [ Images ] Ai Sugiyama [ Images ] in the first round.

There were first-round victories for ninth seed Patty Schnyder [ Images ] of Switzerland [ Images ], who beat Austrian teenager Tamira Paszek 6-4 6-0, and 11th-seeded Russian Dinara Safina [ Images ], who defeated Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-2, 6-4.