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Published on February 22, 2008

Tamarine Tanasugarn snapped her losing streak against two-time Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo, eliminating the Frenchwoman in the second round of the US$2.5-million Qatar Total Open at the Khalifa Tennis Centre in Doha on Wednesday.

After four unsuccessful encounters, the world No 101 finally broke her jinx against the world No 22 with a 7-6 (9/7) 7-5 victory that consumed two hours and 23 minutes.

"It was very windy out there. My serves helped me a lot in the match,'' said Tamarine, who has won five matches in a row since the qualifying round.

Tamarine was in trouble when the former Australian Open and Wimbledon champion broke her in the seventh game of the second set before holding for a 5-3 lead.

Out of nowhere, errors crept creeping into Mauresmo's game as the former world No 1 gave up the next four games to crash out of the tournament.

The upset result was the Thai's first win over the French star since the Wimbledon in 2001, where Tamarine prevailed in the third round.

Tamarine will return to the top 100 next week and is estimated to land in the 80s.

A Herculean task awaited the Thai last night (at  press time), as the current Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova was her third-round opponent.

In her first match after her Melbourne win, the Russian needed three sets to move past compatriot Galina Voskoboeva 6-4 4-6 6-1.

"I have nothing to lose against Maria. I have to play my game and keep the first serves in," Tamarine said.

The Russian glamour girl has yet to drop a set to the Thai in two meetings, in Tokyo in 2004 and in San Diego last year.

Ivanovic limps out

n Ana Ivanovic, the top seed in a tier-one event for the first time in her career, has withdrawn injured after only one match of her bid to win the Qatar Open.

The Australian Open finalist from Serbia sustained damage to her left ankle on Wednesday only four points from the end of a straight-sets victory over Olga Govortsova.

Ivanovic collapsed after trying to turn just behind the baseline, sat there in tears with the pain for several minutes and considered quitting there and then.

However, despite only being able to move with a limp she was persuaded that she might be able to finish the match, which she did by ripping three trademark ground-stroke winners.

But she knew then that the reprieve may be temporary. "It's still painful," she said at the post-match press conference. "It definitely hurts a lot and I'll have to see. The physio did a great job and I will try to recover as best I can."

However, it means that Ivanovic will also be doubtful for the Dubai Open, which starts on Monday with an even stronger field, for Justine Henin, the world No 1, will join the contenders.

Earlier, American Venus Williams advanced to the third round by defeating Karin Knapp of Italy 6-2 6-2.

The Nation