Serena Williams upset by Li

Nesha Starcevic ,  The Associated Press ,  Stuttgart   |  Thu, 10/02/2008 3:30 AM  |  Sports

Serena Williams suffered a stunning collapse after sweeping the first set and lost 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 to Li Na in the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix on Wednesday.

Williams will now also lose the No. 1 spot when the new rankings come out Monday and will be overtaken by Jelena Jankovic, WTA officials said.

The American gained the top spot when she beat Jankovic in the final of the U.S. Open three weeks ago.

Earlier, Patty Schnyder beat Svetlana Kuznetsova for the first time in more than three years and advanced to the second round of with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory over the fifth-seeded Russian on.

Schnyder now has a 3-5 record against Kuznetsova, whom she last beat at the German Open in Berlin in May 2005. Kuznetsova had won their last three matches.

"I played a great match, it was a real fight," the Swiss left-hander said. "There were lots of winners and break points. She defended the baseline very well, it was very tough."

Schnyder broke serve for a 6-5 lead in the final set and clinched the win when Kuznetsova sent a backhand slightly wide.

The 11th-ranked Swiss is seeking her second title of the year after winning in Bali. Schnyder has 11 career titles.

Kuznetsova was coming off a runner-up finish at the China Open, her fifth final defeat of the year, with no titles in 2008. She was No. 2 in the world one year ago.

The Russian has had three semifinal appearances in Stuttgart, while Schnyder had one, in 2006.

Seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva also advanced to the second round by beating Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-2.

Zvonareva won the Olympic bronze medal in Beijing and then also won the tournament in Guangzhou, her second title of the year.

"First match indoors, it was difficult to play my best tennis," the Russian said.

Hantuchova, a 25-year-old Slov
W2321----- r IBX W1335 01-10 00525 222 glbh dak BC-UN--N-Congo-Abducted Kids, 2nd Ld-Writethru,0538[ UN urges rebels to free 90 kids in Congo[ Eds: CORRECTS dateline[ By EDITH M. LEDERER= Associated Press Writer=

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United Nations on Wednesday urged rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army to free 90 school children abducted two weeks ago in eastern Congo.

The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, and the U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, reminded the rebels that the abduction and use of children in armed groups is a war crime and crime against humanity.

UNICEF and the U.N. special representative called in a joint statement "for the immediate and unconditional release of all of the abducted children, who were taken during simultaneous attacks on the Kiliwa, Duru, and Nambia villages in Orientale Province on Sept. 17."

They blamed the Lord's Resistance Army for abducting the 90 children from their schools in the villages.

UNICEF said last week that three civilians were killed in the attacks, and a village chief and two Italian missionaries were abducted. The attackers also torched Kiliwa so thoroughly that only the health center was left standing in the village, it said.

The rebel Lord's Resistance Army has been waging one of Africa's longest and most brutal rebellions, drawing in the volatile region comprised of northern Uganda, eastern Congo and southern Sudan.

Formed more than 20 years ago, it has become notorious for raping children and using them as soldiers. The group's elusive leader, Joseph Kony, believed to be hiding in eastern Congo, and other top members are wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

In their statement, UNICEF and the special representative said: "There are documented cases where children kidnapped by groups in this region have been forced to fight as child soldiers, and where young girls have been raped and used as sex slaves."

After years of fighting between warring militias, eastern Congo had appeared on the road to peace following a deal signed in January by the government and a host of rebel groups.

However, the area has seeded the country's minority Tutsi ethnic group.

Congo held its first democratic elections in more than four decades in 2006, but the new government has struggled to assert its control of the vast country, particularly in the east.

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