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Bartoli, Schiavone crash out

Sixth seed Marion Bartoli and Francesca Schiavone, seeded seventh, both crashed out of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

Frenchwoman Bartoli went down 6-4 6-3 against China’s Shuai Peng in one hour and 28 minutes.

Bartoli, who had to retire with a calf problem during Saturday’s semi-finals in Doha, finished the match with a limp.

Ana Ivanovic won the battle of the former French Open champions as she upset Francesca Schiavione 6-1 7-5.

The Serb raced into a 5-0 lead in the opening set and, although Schiavone put up a better fight in the second set, she didn’t have to get into top gear to reach the second round.

Ivanovic insisted after the match that she still has what it takes to win a major.

“I believe I can get back to the top and win a grand slam again - that’s why I am here,” she said.

“If that wasn’t going to happen or I didn’t feel that it could, I wouldn’t be here.

“It’s strange that at the age of 24 I am considered old. It’s a great challenge for us players who have been around for a while.

“They are pushing us to get better and I still believe that I can.”

Fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska survived a scare as she overcame a slump to beat Canadian qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1 6-7(6) 7-5. Radwanska found herself down 5-3 in the deciding set before she pulled out all the stops.

In other results Lucie Safarova beat qualifier Petra Martic 6-3 5-7 6-3 and Daniela Hantuchova saw off Polona Hercog 1-6 7-5 7-6(4).

Romanian qualifier Simona Halep was a 6-4 6-2 victor over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Iveta Benesova progressed when Dominika Cibulkova withdrew injured when she trailed 3-1.