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Russians through at rain-affected German Open

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-09 09:23

BERLIN,?- Russian seeds Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Dementieva both came from behind to reach the second round of the German Open on a rain-interrupted second day of the tournament on Tuesday.

Ninth seed Chakvetadze, the world number 11, dropped the first set to Australia's Samantha Stosur but came through 3-6 7-6 7-6 and will next play Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.

Dementieva, the 10th seed and a former finalist at the U.S. and French Opens, also lost the opening set but rallied to beat Mara Santangelo of Italy 4-6 6-1 6-4.

In other matches on Tuesday, Serbian 12th seed Ana Ivanovic thrashed Laura Granville of the U.S. 6-2 6-1.

Belgian world number one Justine Henin, winner earlier this week in Warsaw, is the top seed for the $1.34 million, claycourt tournament. Six other top 10 players are in the main draw, including defending champion Nadia Petrova of Russia.

The top eight seeds had a bye into the second round and are yet to play.