Agassi selected for Garden of Dreams Hero Award

NEW YORK (AP) - Eight-time grand slam champion Andre Agassi has been selected as the recipient of this year's Garden of Dreams Hero Award.

The award, created in 2009 by Madison Square Garden and the Garden of Dreams Foundation, honors an individual or organization for service to children facing obstacles.

Agassi was picked for his long-standing work with children. In 1994, he established the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education in Las Vegas. In 1997, he set up a Boys and Girls Club in Las Vegas, and four years later he opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, a tuition-free public charter school in Las Vegas' most at-risk neighborhood.

"Andre has clearly made a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of children," MSG Sports President Scott O'Neil said.

Agassi will be honored on Feb. 28 at MSG during the BNP Paribas Open.

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Safarova, Petrova advance to 2nd round in Qatar

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic upset seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the opening round of the Qatar Open on Monday.

Safarova used her strong baseline play to constantly trouble Radwanska on her serve, creating 13 break points and converting four of them.

Marion Bartoli of France, the 2007 Wimbledon finalist, beat Alisa Kleybanova of Russia 7-5, 6-2, while Nadia Petrova of Russia ousted Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-2.

Bartoli double-faulted five times in the first set and was broken once before gradually taking control against Kleybanova. In the second set, she lost just five points on her serve.

"It was a windy day and that's why I took time to settle down," Bartoli said. "I had a bad start but managed to find my rhythm in the second set."

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark has a first-round bye, as do the next three seeded players: Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Francesca Schiavone of Italy and Li Na of China.

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Montanes into quarterfinals of Copa Claro

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -Fourth-seeded Albert Montanes of Spain reached the quarterfinals of the Copa Claro on Wednesday by beating Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Montanes broke the Italian four times in the match, including the only break of the third set, and won 50 percent of the points on Fognini's second serve.

Later Wednesday, Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina faced countryman Horacio Zeballos in a second-round match. In other late play, No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland played Victor Hanescu of Romania and No. 5 Juan Monaco of Argentina faced countryman Eduardo Schwank.

Top-seeded Nicolas Almagro was to face Leonardo Mayer on Thursday in a second-round match.

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Chakvetadze collapses in match

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -Anna Chakvetadze collapsed on court at the Dubai Championships Wednesday and had to retire from her match with top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.

The 23-year-old Russian was serving for the second set at 5-3. After a long rally that Wozniacki won, Chakvetadze wobbled before fainting. She was given extensive medical treatment during a seven minute delay and returned for one more point before forfeiting the match and tearfully hugging Wozniacki.

Organizers said Chakvetadze, who lost the first set 6-1, had a stomach illness.

Wozniacki said it was a "shock" to see someone she considers a good friend collapse so suddenly. When she approached her, Chakvetadze said she had felt dizzy.

"Suddenly, I just see her collapse on the court. I didn't know what happened," the 20-year-old Dane said. "It was a shock. It was scary. To see someone collapse on other side, it's not a nice sight. I just want to make sure she was OK."

Wozniacki, who needs to reach the semifinals in Dubai to retake the No. 1 spot she lost on Monday to Kim Clijsters, looked like she was coasting to an easy victory after winning the first set in 22 minutes. But then Chakvetadze woke up in the second and seemed on the verge of leveling the match - which clearly rattled the normally calm Wozniacki.

At one point, the 20-year-old Dane tossed her racket in frustration.

"In the first set, I didn't get into the game that much," Wozniacki said. "She was making a lot of mistakes. Suddenly, she started to go for it. I just need some time. I started playing better at the end of the second set."

In early matches, Grand Slam winners Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova both won to set up their first clash since their nearly five-hour-long epic at the Australian Open.

Schiavone accounted for Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-1 while Kuznetsova, a two-time runner-up in Dubai, took the long road to beat Tsevetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 for a third straight time.

The wins put them on course to meet on Thursday, more than three weeks since their fourth-round encounter in Melbourne went for 4 hours, 44 minutes in the longest women's Grand Slam singles in the Open era. Schiavone won.

Looking forward to the match, Schiavone smiled and said, "After two hours, I'll take the racket and put it in the bag.

"I really want to play against her because we know each other, we play good tennis and we can enjoy it and improve."

Kuznetsova leads their matchups 8-5 since 2003, but Schiavone has won the last two.

Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva beat Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-3, 6-1. The Russian, still seeking her first title in more than a year, has exited in the Dubai quarterfinals in the last two years.

"It's never easy to play Roberta, she's a tricky player," Zvonareva said.

Fourth-seeded Sam Stosur thrashed Pattaya Open runner-up Sara Errani of Italy 6-0, 6-1 in 55 minutes, and seventh-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus overcame seven double faults to beat Chinese qualifier Peng Shuai 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

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Tursunov, Stakhovsky win in 1st round at Open 13

MARSEILLE, France (AP) -Dmitry Tursunov of Russia rallied to beat Bulgarian teenager Grigor Dimitrov 6-7 (6), 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the first round at the Open 13 on Monday.

Dimitrov served 17 aces and missed two chances to break serve when leading 4-3 in the second set, with Tursunov closing it out in 2 hours, 40 minutes.

Tursunov served 12 aces but also eight double faults. He will will play either fifth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia or Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev.

Sergiy Stakhovsky defeated Illya Marchenko 6-4, 6-3 in an all-Ukrainian match. He will meet either sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Benoit Paire, both of France.

Although Stakhovsky dropped serve twice, he broke Marchenko twice in each set.

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Almagro, Dolgopolov into final of Brazil Open

COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil (AP) - Top-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain will face Alexandr Dolgopolov in Saturday's final of the Brazil Open.

Almagro bounced back from a lopsided first set to beat Juan Ignacio Chela 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Friday and reach the final.

Almagro, who won this tournament in 2008, will be bidding for his eighth ATP title, and the previous seven have come on clay - the surface in Brazil.

Almagro closed out the match by breaking fifth-seeded Chela of Argentina in the final game to take the third set.

Fourth-seeded Dolgopolov of Ukraine, a quarterfinalist in the Australian Open, reached his first ATP final with a 59-minute victory over Ricardo Mello of Brazil, 6-2, 6-1.

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Hantuchova ends Zvonareva's winning run in Pattaya

PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) -Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia beat an angry Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the semifinals on Saturday to end the Russian's hopes of a third straight title at the Pattaya Open.

Zvonareva's 13-match winning streak at the tournament came to a dramatic end when she was deducted a point in the 10th game of the second set for swearing.

The No. 3-ranked Russian, who had earlier been warned for smashing a racquet, argued with umpire Jennifer Zhang and called for tournament supervisor Jimmy Moore.

But the decision stood and left Hantuchova with a match point that she duly converted to seal the win in two hours, 16 minutes.

"She (the umpire) said that I cursed on the court," Zvonareva said. "First of all, whatever she heard was not what I said. But it didn?t matter she shouldn't have done that.

"But it's OK. It happened."

Zvonareva had also been rattled by a line call during the first set tiebreaker that put Hantuchova in charge at 5-2. The two-time defending champion won only one more point before losing the set in 67 minutes.

"The whole tournament was difficult for me," Zvonareva said. "Everyone starts talking about me winning the third time. I was tired physically and mentally. My focus wasn't there."

Hantuchova, seeking her fourth career title and first since 2007, will play eighth-seeded Sara Errani in Sunday's final.

"Definitely I'm very hungry (for the title). It's about time, it's been four years," Hantuchova said. "It was a really good fight (against Zvonareva). I have to say it's one of the best matches I've played in the last few years."

Errani beat fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal to reach her first final since losing to Dinara Safina in Portoroz in 2009.

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