Maleeva overcomes cramps to beat Appelmans

Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva fought cramps during a 2 1/2 hour match today but hung onto beat Belgium player Sabine Appelmans and advance into the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix in Filderstadt, Germany.

Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva fought cramps during a 2 1/2 hour match today but hung onto beat Belgium player Sabine Appelmans and advance into the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix in Filderstadt, Germany.

Maleeva outlasted Appelmans, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 at the dlrs 535,000 event, where rising 17-year-old Kim Clijsters of Belgium also advanced with a 6-7 (9), 3-6 victory against Germany's Jana Kandarr.

Clijsters, the women's tour newcomer-of-the-year last season, had ousted sixth-seeded Russian Anna Kournikova on Tuesday.

Maleeva led 5-4 and had a match point in the third set when she called for courtside treatment for arm cramps, which was later attributed to drinking too little water.

Top-seeded and world No. 1 Martina Hingis was scheduled to play later Wednesday, her first match after skipping the Olympics and coming within two points of beating eventual winner Venus Williams at the U.S. Open.

In other matches, eigh-seeded Dominique van Roost of Belgium ousted Luxemburg's Anne Kremer, 7-5, 7-6 (4) and Sweden's Asa Carlsson beat Spain's Magui Serna, 6-3, 6-3.

Results from the $35,000 Porsche Grand Prix WTA tennis tournament (seedings in parantheses):

First round

Dominique van Roost, Belgium, def. Anne Kremer, Luxembourg, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Magdalena Maleeva, Bulgaria, def. Sabine Appelmans, Belgium 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Asa Carlsson, Sweden, def. Magui Serna, Spain, 6-3, 6-3. Second Round Kim Clijsters, Belgium, def. Jana Kandarr, Germany, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3.