World number seven Svetlana Kuznetsova was the biggest casualty on the second day of the Dubai Tennis Championship.
Russian seventh seed falls to world number 75 Vesnina
World number seven Svetlana Kuznetsova was the biggest casualty on the second day of the Dubai Tennis Championship.
Last year's runner-up struggled for rhythm throughout her second round match before eventually going down 6-4 3-6 6-0 to fellow Russian Elena Vesnina.
"I'm very happy with the way I played today," the victorious 22-year-old said. "Kuznetsova's obviously a top-10 player, so it's even more special.
"I think I really troubled her today. She wasn't comfortable at all and I feel she was totally lost in the third set. She kept looking at her coach.
"It must have been difficult for her as the centre court was playing faster than other courts. It was her first match and hence a new court for her. I am a bit more used to it now."
Ivanovic through
Former world number one and reigning French Open champion Ana Ivanovic did advance through to the third round with a hard-fought 7-5 6-4 win over Alisa Kleybanova.
However, ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska made an early exit losing to her younger sister, Urszula, 6-4 6-3 and Anna Chakvedatze, seeded 15, was dumped out by Japan's Ayumi Morita 7-5 6-2.
Morita only came into the tournament as a result of Israeli Shahar Peer being denied a visa to enter the UAE - a controversial decision that is still overshadowing the tournament.
WTA tour head Larry Scott said on Monday that the lucrative tournament risks being struck from the calendar for violating the principle that sports and politics should not mix.
"There's two things we need to consider: what's the future fate of the Dubai tournament and what sanctions apply and the second thing is how does Shahar get treated fairly, how does her situation get redressed," Scott said.
Principles
"There are some very important principles at stake here. Sports and politics should not mix and the fundamental principles upon which the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour are founded include open and fair competition to all, regardless of nationality, creed, race, religion, etc.
"That's not just a principle that our Tour is founded upon but I think it is the underlying spirit of international sports in general and therefore I think the ramifications of what happened here ripple well beyond tennis.
"We will think deeply about this in making our decision on what our final response is."
Meanwhile, Paris Open champion Amelie Mauresmo has been fined $7,500 by the WTA Tour for withdrawing from the tournament at the last minute.
