Capriati out as seeds fall in Rome

Eleanor Preston

Second seed Jennifer Capriati was the biggest name to fall when she was beaten 1-6 6-2 7-6 by Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis on a day of shocks in the Masters Series women's tournament on Wednesday.

In other second-round upsets, fifth seed Nathalie Tauziat was beaten 5-7 6-3 6-4 by South Africa's Joanette Kruger, sixth seeded Belgian Kim Clijsters lost 3-6 6-2 6-3 to Emmanuelle Gagliardi and ninth seed Magdalena Maleeva went down 6-3 4-6 7-6 to Italian Francesca Schiavone.

With the withdrawal of 13th seed Meghann Shaughnessy because of an ankle injury before her match against Denisa Chladkova, only six of the original 16 seeds now remain in the tournament.

Capriati appeared to be hampered by severe blisters on her foot and received treatment at the beginning of the third set, but the American refused to make excuses.

"I think she played really well, one of the best matches she's ever played," said Capriati. "She really picked it up, especially after the first set."

"I'm not going to let this loss hurt my confidence at all," she added. "Everyone has a bad loss now and then and I have to give her a lot of credit. It's not like I played badly.

"I've been playing a lot of tennis in the last few weeks so maybe it's good that I get a little rest time out before the French Open."

The French Open starts on May 28.

Kuti Kis will now meet Jelena Dokic -- who beat Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 6-2 3-6 6-4 -- in the third round and the Hungarian will have a point to prove.

Kuti Kis knocked Dokic out of the first round of the Australian Open last year, after which the Yugoslav described her as "someone who isn't a player and never will be a player".

Amelie Mauresmo, who beat Capriati to claim the German Open title last week, won her sixth straight match in beating Angeles Montolio 7-6 6-3. But she admitted afterwards that the Spanish clay court specialist had given her some trouble.

"It's tough because she doesn't give you any pace so you have to make all the game yourself," said Mauresmo. "For a first round it's not easy so I'm very happy to get through this one."

NEVER WON
Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, seeded seventh, marched into the third round with a 6-2 6-3 win over German qualifier Bianka Lamade.

Despite winning 28 career titles, including four Grand Slams, she has never won at the Foro Italico, where she was a finalist in 1989 and 1995.

"It's maybe a tournament that's never been a success for me, although I've reached the finals and been to the semis a few times," said Sanchez-Vicario, "but I'll try to see if this year can be the year. There's no pressure though, I'll just take it one match at a time."

Seventeenth seed Paola Suarez squeaked into round three with a last gasp 5-7 6-1 7-6 win over Luxembourg's Anne Kremer.

Russians continued to flourish in Rome with Nadia Petrova following up yesterday's win over Mary Pierce with a 7-5 6-0 victory over Lilia Osterloh.

Petrova's compatriot Lina Krasnoroutskaya, who knocked out ninth seed Anke Huber in the previous round, beat Nuria Llagostera 6-2 6-4 and now goes on to meet Sanchez-Vicario.

Elena Likhovtseva made it three Russians through to the third round when she beat Italy's Maria Elena Camerin 6-1 6-4.