Cirstea suffers Seoul slip-up

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:49

Unseeded German Anna-Lena Groenefeld clinched her place in the second round with a battling 7-6 (7/3) 3-6 6-3 victory in South Korea.

There were no other upsets involving the top eight seeds in action.

Second-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues enjoyed a comfortable 6-3 6-4 triumph over Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, while third-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone cruised to an equally straightforward 6-1 6-4 win against Japanese qualifier Yurika Sema.

Defending champion Russian Maria Kirilenko was tested but eventually advanced with a 4-6 6-1 6-2 victory against Australian qualifier Sophie Ferguson.

Three more Russians in Alisa Kleybanova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Vera Dushevina – seeded five, six and seven – were also straight-sets winners against Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik, American Angela Haynes and Pole Urszula Radwanska respectively.

Eighth seed Sybille Bammer of Austria had to fight back from a set down to get the better of another Russian, ultimately prevailing 2-6 6-4 6-4 against Ekaterina Makarova.

There were also first-round wins for American Meghann Shaughnessy, Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova, Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, South African Chanelle Scheepers and Taiwan duo Chan Yung-jan and Chang Kai-chen.

Top seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia gets her campaign under way on Wednesday against Japanese teenager Ayumi Morita.

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