Current Tennis News: Kuznetsova upset in 2nd round

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) -- Svetlana Kuznetsova had a succinct explanation for losing her opening match at the BNP Paribas Open.

"The tennis ball is perfect. I am not perfect," the top-seeded Russian said after a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 loss to Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round on Saturday.
Kuznetsova, who hadn't played in a month and had a first-round bye, made 69 unforced errors and double-faulted seven times against Suarez Navarro, who arrived here ranked No. 42 in the WTA Tour after reaching the semifinals at Acapulco, Mexico, last week.

"It's frustrating because I know I have the game," said Kuznetsova, ranked No. 3 overall. "I feel great. I do practice, play unbelievable and then I get to the match and I don't do much."

"I feel good and the ball doesn't go where I want it to go, you know. I play there and it goes a different way. I'm like OK, I play tennis for like 17 years and I still cannot put this little ball in this huge court. It's frustrating. ... I'm not the worst player in the world, so definitely I have (the) expectation from myself to put a little bit more inside of the court."

One of the problems, though, was that when Kuznetsova did put the ball in the court, Suarez Navarro usually hit it back. The defensive-minded Spaniard, a winner over Venus Williams in the 2009 Australian Open, found the slow hardcourt perfect for her game and hit only 14 winners (Kuznetsova had 34) in advancing to face No. 27 seed Agnes Szavay of Hungary in the third round.

Two-time champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium won her second-round match, beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-1.

Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka, No. 8 Samantha Stosur, No. 9 Flavia Pennetta and No. 13 Yanina Wickmayer also won in straight sets.