Tokyo Tears

First-round byes preceded good-byes for three seeded players who were toppled in Tokyo by qualifiers today.

Venus Williams' first Tokyo appearance in five years proved to be short lived. The second-seeded Williams succumbed to 18-year-old Russian qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6(6), 7-5, in a one hour, 56-minute match of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Williams had far more many break point chances than her 40th-ranked opponent but converted on just three of 15 break-point opportunities. In contrast, Pavlyuchenkova converted four of five break-point chances in avenging a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing to Williams in Dubai earlier this year. Pavlyuchenkova will face the winner of the all-French match-up between 14th-seeded Marion Bartoli and Aravane Rezai for a place in the quarter-finals.

Williams' ouster came hours after World No. 1 Dinara Safina and reigning Roland Garros champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, also met their demise at the hands of qualifiers.

Taiwanese qualifier Chang Kai-Chen toppled defending champion Safina, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5, to reach the round of 16 at the $2 million hard-court event.

It was Safina's first match since she suffered a surprising, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5), US Open third-round loss to 72nd-ranked Petra Kvitova and ended in another painful loss for the 23-year-old Russian.

"It's not an easy moment," said Safina, who reportedly broke down in tears outside the player lounge after the match. "I had a lot of chances in the third set but I just let it go. I didn't play the way I should. I never took her out of her comfort zone. I didn't do much to help myself."

A year ago, Safina crushed 20th-ranked Russian Nadia Petrova, 6-1, 6-0, in the semifinals before sweeping seventh-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 6-3, in the final to win the Tokyo title in her tournament debut.

The fifth-seeded Kuznetsova fell to German qualifier Andrea Petkovic, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours, 11 minutes.

The 132nd-ranked Chang spent much of the first eight months of the season trying to gain traction on the Challenger circuit. Last month, the then 212th-ranked Chang qualified for the US Open and knocked off 25th-seeded Kaia Kanepi, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2, then pushed 46th-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova to three sets before bwoing. She qualified for Seoul last week and reached the round of 16, falling to 77th-ranked Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

She entered Tokyo ranked No. 132 and maintained her composure throughout the tight two hour, 44-minute match in which both women won exactly 119 points. The 18-year-old Chang said she believed she could compete with the defending champion from the start.

"I never came into the match thinking I was going to lose badly," said Chang. "I just wanted to play tough."

Safina hit eight aces and nine double faults. Her second serve, which has been vulnerable as Safina has slumped to a 7-5 record in her last five tournaments, let her down again as Chang won 28 of the 41 points played on Safina's serve.