Swiss former champion Patty Schnyder eased into the second round of the Zurich Open after her opponent Serena Williams had to withdraw due to a right tight injury while trailing 0-6 0-3.

The Swiss number one was off to a good start  breaking Williams’ serve in the first game of the match, but immediately was evident that her opponent was not in the game today.

The American sixth seed, who qualified last week for the Year End Championships (YEC) in Madrid, called the trainer after the third game and went off court. After the injury time-out she resumed play but to no avail and after losing six more straight games she called it quits.

A disappointed Williams said she picked up the injury before the match probably as a consequence of a knee injury she sustained in Moscow last week. However she expects to be fully fit for the YEC season finale.  It was the second Williams participation at the Swiss Open where she lost 1997 in the qualifications, while Schnyder the champion of 2002 was playing her home event for the 14th time.

In other news French eighth seed Amelie Mauresmo beat Greek qualifier Eleni Danilidou in a hard fought match  6-4 4-6 6-3, while fellow French and Wimbledon-finalist  Marion Bartoli had to overcome the loss of the first set to take control of the match and beat her Chinese Peng Shuai 6-7 6-0 6-1.