Schiavone fights back to oust Robson

London: Former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone was forced to fight back from a set down to beat British youngster Laura Robson in the Wimbledon tennis championships here Tuesday.

Robson dominated the first set as Schiavone struggled with a back problem, but the 24th-seeded Italian struck back in the second before holding on, in the decider for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win. The 18-year-old Robson, who entered the top 100 for the first time Sunday at No. 97, saved two match points at 1-5 down in the third set and battled back to 4-5, saving two more match points, before Schiavone finally succeeded in closing out the match. The Italian`s next opponent will be either Slovakian world No. 46 Polona Hercog or qualifier Krystina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Earlier, Czech 19th seed Lucie Safarova became the fifth seeded player to fall in the Wimbledon women`s draw after a straight-sets defeat to Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. Safarova was broken six times by Bertens, who is ranked 86th in the world, on the way to a 3-6, 0-6 defeat that lasted just 50 minutes. Bertens will now play Kazakhstan`s wildcard entrant Yaroslava Shvedova, who reached the fourth round of the French Open earlier this month. IANS