TOKYO: Rising Swiss star Belinda Bencic upset two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-0 in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open on Monday, maintaining recent impressive form.

The wildcard broke the Russian veteran’s serve twice in the first set and three times in the second to win the match at Ariake Tennis Park in only 68 minutes. The 17-year-old is on the back of a run to the quarter-finals at the US Open in New York.

Bencic will face Lucie Safarova in the second round after the seventh-seeded Czech rallied from a set down to beat US teenager Madison Keys 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2.

Only four first-round singles matches were played on Monday at the $1 million event.

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-1 while Spaniard Garbine Muguruza Blanco was a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) winner over Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Four top-seeds, including world number eight Angelique Kerber of Germany and ninth-ranked Dane Caroline Wozniacki enjoyed a bye to the second round.

LEPCHENKO WINS

SEOUL: Fifth-seeded Varvara Lepchenko of the United States advanced to the second round of the Korea Open by beating Olivia Rogowska of Australia 6-1, 6-2 on Monday.

Lepchenko converted all three break points in first set at Olympic Park Tennis Centre and will next face Han Na-Lae of South Korea, who beat Su Jeong-jang 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3.

In the day’s only upset, Mona Barthel of Germany defeated seventh-seeded Caroline Garcia of France, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

Christina McHale of the United States beat Lara Arruabarrena of Spain 6-2, 6-3, Chanelle Scheepers of

South Africa defeated Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, and Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany beat Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

LUCIC-BARONI STUNS VENUS

QUEBEC CITY: Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni stunned Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3 to win the Coupe Banque Nationale in Quebec City on Sunday, 16 years after her last WTA Title.

It is a record for the longest gap between titles, following her previous triumph in Bol, Croatia in 1998.

The 32-year-old former Wimbledon semi-finalist disappeared from the WTA Tour from 2004-06 but has rekindled her career and recently reached the US Open fourth round, beating world number two Simona Halep on the way.

“It’s been so long,” she said on the WTA website. “I’m finally playing the great tennis I always knew I could play, but it had been so long that I kind of lost a little bit of the belief in myself.”

Published in Dawn, September 16th , 2014