LUXEMBOURG,
Sept. 27--Eighth seed Mary Pierce was sent packing from the Luxembourg Championship in the first round on Tuesday when she was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Pierce, in just her fifth event of an injury-hit year, was outplayed by the 22-year-old Bondarenko, who will now face Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia or Italian Elena Camerin.
Former French and Australian Open champion Pierce has won just eight matches in 2006.
Last year’s beaten finalist Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany also suffered an upset defeat as she was hammered 6-0 6-4 by Italian qualifier Karin Knapp.
The 19-year-old Knapp, ranked 135, has spent most of the year playing lower level events on the Tour but after progressing through qualifying, made mincemeat of seventh seed Groenefeld.
Italian fifth seed Francesca Schiavone had no such problems, easily disposing of Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands, 6-4 6-3.
Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy battled past Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-1 3-6 6-3 while American wildcard Chanda Rubin, making a rare appearance, beat German Martina Mueller 6-3 6-0.
On Wednesday, former world number one Venus Williams was due to play her first match since Wimbledon when she took on sixth seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the first round.
The American was forced to miss the US Open because of a wrist injury.

Manchester United's Louis Saha (r) shoots and scores past Benfica's Anderson Cleber during their Champions League Group F soccer match at the Luz Stadium in Lisbon, Tuesday. (Reuters Photo)

LONDON, Sept. 27--Real Madrid got their Champions League campaign on track with a 5-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev, while Manchester United ground out a 1-0 revenge win at Benfica on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, Real, rocked by a 2-0 defeat in their Group E opener at Olympique Lyon two weeks ago, were 3-0 up at halftime after goals from Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy, captain Raul and Arsenal’s on-loan forward Jose Antonio Reyes.
Raul and Van Nistelrooy each added another after the break as Real turned victory into a rout.
United, knocked out of last season’s Champions League by a 2-1 group stage defeat at Benfica, had a stunning shot by French striker Louis Saha to thank for a scrappy victory at the Luz stadium in Group F--their first away win in the competition for nearly three years.
Arsenal skipper Thierry Henry scored one and set up the other in a 2-0 home win over Porto that sent last season’s finalists two points clear in Group G, following CSKA Moscow’s 1-0 win over Hamburg SV.
Lyon, buoyed by their victory over Real, followed up with a 3-0 win at Steaua Bucharest, while Celtic shrugged off a defeat by United two weeks ago to beat FC Copenhagen 1-0.
There were no winners in Group H, where AC Milan had to settle for a 0-0 draw with Lille in northern France and AEK Athens finished 1-1 with Anderlecht in Greece.
Though satisfied with Real’s result, their Italian coach Fabio Capello was none too impressed with his side’s defending at the Bernabeu.
“We let them have too many chances and not all our opponents will be so generous to us...we made some defensive errors,“ Capello said.
Real and Steaua have three points apiece in a group led by Lyon on six.
“We are halfway to qualifying,“ said Lyon’s delighted coach Gerard Houllier after goals from Brazilian forward Fred, Portuguese midfielder Tiago and substitute Karim Benzema sealed an emphatic victory in the Romanian capital.
United, who became England’s first European Cup winners by beating Benfica in 1968, will feel they too are on course after settling their more recent score with the Portuguese side.
Having beaten Celtic 3-2 two weeks ago at Old Trafford, Saha’s superb left-foot shot from the edge of the area leaves United with maximum points from two games.
Striker Kenny Miller converted a penalty to give Celtic a 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen and second place in the group.
Arsenal were convincing at the Emirates Stadium, reaching six points with some slick passing and two clinical finishes from midfielder Alexandr Hleb and Henry in the night’s other Anglo-Portuguese contest.

Tiger Woods

WATFORD, UK,
Sept. 27--Tiger Woods aims to make it third time lucky on his trip to Europe as he tees it up in the American Express World Championship here at The Grove on Thursday.
Woods, reeling from a first round defeat to Shaun Micheel in the World Matchplay at Wentworth, and a nine-point drubbing from Europe in last weekend’s Ryder Cup, will partner his friend and European hero of The K Club Darren Clarke on the first two days, AFP said.
Clarke, who lost his wife Heather six weeks ago to cancer, won three points out of three in Ireland and drew this tribute from his rival.
Woods said: “I thought it was remarkable. For him to come and play is one thing but to play as well as he did, after as much time off as he has taken, it was truly remarkable It was great to see.
“I am a big friend of his and to see him go out there and playas well as he did, I am very proud to have been able to see that.“
Woods, 30, took time out to pay tribute to the European team who ran out 18 1/2 to 9 1/2 winners.
He added: “They have a younger crop of players that are playing well. When our youngest player is 30 years old, that’s not a positive thing. They have Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, all in their 20s.
“We don’t have anybody in their 20s on the team. And all three guys I just mentioned have won numerous tournaments around the world. Most of our guys in our 20s haven’t won tournaments yet.
“Hopefully we’ll have a new crop of guys that will come up from college and start producing, and the guys right now in their 20s will start winning tournaments and get on these teams,“ Woods said.
“Dealing with pressure-packed situations in regular tour events, that’s one of the reasons why I think they (the young Europeans) are able to win tournaments around the world as well.“
Only Phil Mickelson and Vaughn Taylor of the vanquished United States team and Paul McGinley from Europe are missing from this week’s line up when stars such as Ernie Els, Adam Scott and Retief Goosen are added to the mix.
To add to the international flavor of the event, Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant, compatriot Thongchai Jaidee and India’s Jyoti Randhawa have all qualified.
Wirichant said: “This is the very good opportunity as the tournament is a chance for top Asian Tour players to go out and test our abilities in one of the biggest events in the world.

LONDON, Sept. 27--Holders Sevilla and former winners Ajax should have little trouble securing their places in the UEFA Cup group phase when they play the second legs of their first round ties at home on Thursday.
There are 40 places up for grabs with the first-round winners being spread out among eight groups of five.
Sevilla are 2-1 up against Atromitos of Greece although they will have to put behind them their first defeat in 13 matches since April, having gone down 2-1 on Sunday at Atletico Madrid--who scored twice in the final five minutes against nine men, Reuters reported.
Four-times European Cup winners Ajax, who lifted the UEFA Cup in 1992, are a comfortable 5-2 up against IK Start of Norway after a victory that included two from Klaas Jan Huntelaar.
Their Dutch arch-rivals Feyenoord, who won the trophy for the second time in 2002, hold the upper hand on Lokomotiv Sofia after a 2-2 draw in Bulgaria where they came from two down with a Theo Lucius penalty and defender Serginho Greene’s equalizer.
Parma, UEFA Cup winners in 1995 and 1999, would normally feel confident about a home match against modest Russian side Rubin Kazan after winning the away leg 1-0 with 19-year-old Daniele Dessena’s late strike.
But Parma need quickly to heal the wounds of a 4-0 mauling by AS Roma at home in Serie A on Sunday, which the club’s official Web site called “A match to forget“.
Parma’s Senegalese defender Ferdinand Coly said: “Rubin are coming at the right moment if we win...we must take it as a test to recover with a good performance and a victory.“
Several other teams with 1-0 leads from the first leg should go through but will need to be careful about conceding potential killer away goals to the opposition.
Twice UEFA Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur have found goals hard to come by in the Premier League but came away from the Czech Republic with a 1-0 victory over Slavia Prague thanks to Jermaine Jenas’s winner.
Spurs’ London neighbors West Ham United, down 1-0 to Andrea Caracciolo’s goal for Palermo, will be hoping their Argentines Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano come good in a Latin environment in Sicily after their early struggles in London.
Olympique Marseille, Champions League winners in 1993 and beaten by Parma in the 1999 UEFA Cup final in Moscow, visit Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republiuc with a slender 1-0 lead thanks to Habib Bamogo’s winning goal at the Velodrome.

SHANGHAI, Sept. 27--Attention this weekend will be focused on the tussle for the Formula One championship as Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso set-up a thrilling conclusion to the season.
Schumacher says that thoughts of his imminent retirement will not affect his preparations for the three crucial remaining races of the season, starting in China, AFP said.
The seven-time world champion announced after winning the Italian Grand Prix on September 10 that he would be leaving the sport at the end of the year.
Schumacher’s title aspirations were boosted by his victory at that race and left the German within touching distance of his championship rival, Renault driver Alonso of Spain.
Two points separate the duo heading into this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix but the momentum is with Ferrari driver Schumacher.
Schumacher has had no doubts about his decision to retire, made earlier this season but only made public at Monza, as he ends his 16-year association with the sport.
“The announcement was agreed a long time ago, with everyone involved, and it was not an emergency,“ he said. “I am happy with my decision and, as I said in Monza, I want to concentrate 100 percent on the world championship fight.
“That is the only things that counts for me - and I am not thinking about anything else at the moment.“
Schumacher’s name dominates Formula One’s record books and he retires from the sport as the most successful driver of the modern era with his haul of seven drivers’ championships unlikely to be bettered.
Last year, however, he relinquished the crown to his spirited young rival Alonso and the German clearly wants title glory one last time before his departure.
“I think we can win the title again but in my eyes I think it will be tight,“ said Schumacher. “You should not underestimate Renault and we will certainly not make that mistake.
“We will concentrate on our strengths, doing everything we can and we will give our full energy and commitment for the final three races. Then we will see what the outcome is.
“But again, I believe that we have a very good chance.“

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Sept. 27--World Cup stalwarts Hernan Crespo, Roberto Ayala and Gabriel Heinze have been recalled by Argentina for their friendly international against Spain in Murcia next month, Reuters said.
Ayala, who scored when Argentina drew 1-1 with hosts Germany in their World Cup quarterfinal in Berlin in June before they went out on penalties, is set to equal the national caps record of 106 held by retired former captain Diego Simeone.
The trio were not match fit earlier in the month with Crespo moving to Inter Milan from Chelsea, Ayala in conflict with his club Valencia and Manchester United’s Heinze nursing an injury.
Midfielder Pablo Aimar, who also missed coach Alfio Basile’s first match in charge, a 3-0 defeat by arch-rivals Brazil in London on Sept. 3, is recalled possibly with a view to taking on Juan Roman Riquelme’s playmaker role.
Riquelme, who pulled the strings in Argentina’s impressive World Cup team, announced his retirement from international football for family reasons two weeks ago after a muted performance in the Brazil friendly.
Villarreal defender Rodolfo Arruabarrena is recalled for the first time in six years. He last played for Argentina in a 0-0 draw with England at Wembley in February 2000.
Basile, who took the reins from Jose Pekerman after the World Cup for his second spell in charge, chose 21 players based in Europe only because Argentine clubs will be involved in Copa Sudamericana matches at the time of the friendly.
Spain have a free date on Oct. 11 after a Euro 2008 qualifier away against Sweden in Group F on Oct. 7.

MUMBAI, India, Sept. 27--Former world number one Carlos Moya crashed out of the inaugural ATP Mumbai Open in the first round on Tuesday, losing to Argentine teenager Juan del Potro in straight sets.
Del Potro, who celebrated his 18th birthday on Saturday, outplayed the fifth-seeded Spanish veteran 6-3, 6-2, AFP reported.
The teenager, ranked 106 in the world, showed why he is rated highly back home as he attacked Moya throughout the match to record what he later said was the best win of his career and against an opponent he respected.
“I watched Moya a lot on television and admired the way he played, but I was not nervous in my first meeting with him tonight,“ said the young Argentine who is playing in only his sixth ATP tournament.
“I wanted to make him run, and serve well. I was able to do that well. This is obviously the best win of my career.“
Moya, languishing now at world number 43, was graceful in defeat.
“It’s not that he played anything special but I could do nothing right tonight,“ said Moya.
“It was one of those matches when you know you are not doing the right things. He only had to put the ball in my court and the point was his.
“I did not deserve to win.“
Seventh-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina also suffered a shock first round defeat, going out 6-7 (5/7), 4-6 to Stefan Koubek of Austria.
World number 70 Monaco appeared rattled after losing the first set in the tie-breaker and dropped his serve early in the second set on his way to losing the match.
“I did not move well at all but it was a match that could have gone either way,“ said Monaco.
Wesley Moodie of South Africa, seeded eighth, survived a tough battle against Indian wildcard Rohan Bopanna before winning 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.