Wed May 7 13:26:19 2008

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Henin, Ivanovic, Kuznetsova all win in Berlin

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Berlin, Germany (Sports Network) - Three-time champion Justine Henin, reigning titlist Ana Ivanovic and 2007 runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova were among Wednesday's second-round winners at the $1.34 million German Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up.

The top-seeded/world No. 1 Henin handled Taipei's Yung-Jan Chan, a qualifier, 6-0, 6-2 on the red clay at LTTC Rot-Weiss. The diminutive Belgian titled here in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and was the runner-up in 2006.

Henin is seeing her first action since losing to Serena Williams in a quarterfinal in Miami over a month ago.

The reigning French and U.S. Open champion Henin's third-round opponent on Thursday will be 13th-seeded Russian Dinara Safina, an easy 6-4, 6-3 winner against Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi on Day 3.

A second-seeded Ivanovic got past Uzbekistanian lucky-loser Akgul Amanmuradova 7-6 (7-0), 6-2. The French and Aussie Open runner-up Ivanovic beat Kuznetsova in last year's Berlin finale.

Up next for Ivanovic will be Austrian lefthander Sybille Bammer, who edged out wild card and German crowd favorite Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5).

A third-seeded Kuznetsova handled Colombian qualifier Catalina Castano 6-3, 6-2 to setup a third-rounder against 15th-seeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.

In other action involving top-10 seeds, No. 4 Serbian Jelena Jankovic topped Chinese Shuai Peng 7-5, 6-0, No. 10 Hungarian Agnes Szavay pasted Chinese Zi Yan 6-1, 6-1 and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka ousted sixth-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4. Azarenka is fresh off her runner-up finish in Prague last week.

In other play involving seeds, No. 11 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland blasted German qualifier Angelika Bachmann 6-1, 6-1, the aforementioned Bondarenko beat Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 and Maria Kirilenko toppled 16th-seeded fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-3, 6-3. Medina Garrigues was last week's runner-up in Morocco.

Additionally, hot Argentine Gisela Dulko downed Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 7-5 and Vera Dushevina outlasted qualifier and fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Dulko was last week's clay-court champ in Morocco.

Some of Thursday's other third-rounders will pit Jankovic against Kirilenko and a fifth-seeded Williams versus Radwanska. The 2002 Berlin runner-up Williams is a dominant 20-1 this season, including a torrid 16-match winning streak. The eight-time Grand Slam champion is seeking her fourth straight tournament title and hasn't lost a match since bowing out against Jankovic in the quarterfinals at January's Australian Open.

The 2008 German Open titlist will pocket $196,900.