Williams continues comeback at WTT event
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Shanghai Daily, July 21, 2011
Serena Williams continued her comeback on Tuesday night, taking part in mixed doubles, doubles and singles in World Team Tennis in Albany, New York.
Williams, who sat out nearly a year with an assortment of health problems before returning to play the Eastbourne International prior to Wimbledon, beat Martina Hingis 5-3 in women's singles to give the Washington Kastles an 18-15 lead over the New York Sportimes with one only men's doubles match remaining.
After arriving just in time for the start of play and getting no practice or warmup, Williams and partner Leander Paes lost mixed doubles in a tiebreaker against Hingis and Travis Parrott. Williams and Rennae Stubbs then won the women's doubles, besting Hingis and Katie O'Brien 5-2, with Williams serving a love game to put the Kastles up 4-1.
In Hamburg, German wildcard Cedrik-Marcel Stebe upset former No. 1 and last week's Stuttgart winner Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the German Open on Tuesday.
Ferrero missed two months earlier this year with wrist and knee injuries but had an impressive week in Stuttgart, where he clinched his first title in 13 months. Stebe, a 20-year-old left-hander, also had a successful week in Stuttgart, winning his first two matches on the tour before losing in the quarterfinals.
Upset win
Another German wildcard, Tobias Kamke, also had an upset win, beating seventh-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-1, 6-4 in the second round.
Philipp Kohlschreiber added to the German success when he defeated last year's Hamburg winner, Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, 7-5, 6-3.
Golubev has lost his last 17 matches and is 4-21 for the year.
While his countrymen advanced, German Davis Cup player Philipp Petzschner was upset by qualifier Marsel Ilhan of Turkey, then stunned reporters with bizarre answers to questions about the match.
Asked to comment on Ilhan's unexpected 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) victory, Petzschner replied, "I hope that HSV reaches the Europa League this season."
When asked to describe how he managed to double-fault on match point, Petzschner again referred to the Hamburger SV Bundesliga football club, saying it had acquired good new players.
Petzschner has been under fire for a lackluster performance in Germany's Davis Cup loss to France and for three straight first-round losses.
Jarkko Nieminen of Finland beat 10th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, fifth-seeded Gilles Simon of France cruised into the third round over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, 6-2, 6-1 and Fabio Fognini, the No. 15 from Italy, beat Victor Crivoi of Romania 6-1, 7-5.
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