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Sick Chakvetadze collapses against Wozniacki

Anna Chakvetadze's retirement handed Caroline Wozniacki passage to the next round in Dubai © Getty Images

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Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki was unexpectedly handed passage to the third round of the Dubai Tennis Championships after the retirement of opponent Anna Chakvetadze, who appeared to faint while serving for the second set.

After taking the first set with ease, the 20-year-old Dane found herself in unexpected trouble after Chakvetadze picked up a break early in the second set. At 3-0 down Wozniacki fought back to make it 3-2, before her Russian opponent again extended her advantage to 5-3.

But, while serving for the set, Chakvetadze shockingly collapsed on court and - after medical intervention that lasted seven minutes - managed to play just one more point before retiring from the contest with the scoreline reading 6-2 5-3. She was believed to be suffering with a stomach illness.

"It was a shock," said Wozniacki. "It was scary. She is a good friend of mine, but to see anyone collapse on the other side of the net is not a good sight. It was quite a surprise."

Vera Zvonareva proved she is likely to be a tough proposition in Dubai with a routine 6-3 6-1 win over Roberta Vinci. The No. 2 seed was not at her best on serve, being broken on two occasions, but she was hugely impressive from the back of the court as she wrapped up victory in 66 minutes.

Zvonareva was joined in the third round by the eighth and ninth seeds, as Agnieszka Radwanska and Shahar Peer enjoyed wins over Anastasija Sevastova and Alexandra Dulgheru respectively.

Sam Stosur made a signal of intent with a crushing 6-0 6-1 win over Sara Errani. Stosur failed in her bid to win her home grand slam in Australia and then saw her country beaten by Italy in the Fed Cup. But she exacted some form of revenge by dropping just one game against Italian Errani. Stosur took just 56 minutes to claim victory.

French Open champion and No. 3 seed Francesca Schiavone was another impressive winner, with the Italian claiming a 6-3 6-1 victory over Shuai Zheng. Jelena Jankovic's form has been patchy for some time but she produced a solid display to beat Chanelle Scheepers 6-2 6-3.

Patty Schnyder took out Ana Ivanovic on Tuesday and her fine run continued as she ousted China's Jie Zheng 1-6 6-0 6-2. Italian Flavia Pennetta also made her way into the next round after going the distance, overcoming the loss of the first set to Klara Zakopalova to ultimately cruise to a 5-7 6-1 6-2 victory.

France's Marion Bartoli battled back from losing the first set to claim a 3-6 6-4 6-1 win over Timea Bacsinszky, while it was a similar scenario for Svetlana Kuznetsova who needed three sets to beat Tsvetana Pironkova.

At the tail end of the day, Kaia Kanepi defeated Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-3 3-6 6-3 to book her berth in the next phase of the tournament.

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