SYDNEY, Jan 12: Spaniard Tommy Robredo brushed aside Jurgen Melzer at the Sydney International on Monday to signal his intent as an outside contender for next week’s Australian Open.

The tournament seventh seed edged past the Austrian 4-3 in their head-to-head meetings with a 6-3, 6-4 win to set up a second-round encounter with Croatia’s Mario Ancic, who ousted Belgian qualifier Xavier Malisse, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in a late match. The Sydney International has not been a happy hunting ground for the Spaniard and he has a 3-5 losing record with a quarter-final appearance his best finish in 2004.

But he started his 2009 Sydney International campaign in the best possible manner, taking 90 minutes to put away Melzer.

Meanwhile, rising French teenager Alize Cornet added Russian Nadia Petrova to her growing list of top-ranked scalps with a straight sets opening-round victory at the Sydney WTA International.

The 18-year-old put paid to the tournament seventh seed 6-2, 6-4 after overcoming her fear of playing with an inflamed shoulder that has plagued her for the last two months.

Monday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s:

First round: 7-Tommy Robredo (Spain) bt Jurgen Melzer (Austria) 6-3, 6-4; Michael Llodra (France) bt Denis Gremelmayr (Germany) 6-0, 6-2; Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) bt Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-2, 7-6 (11-9); Simone Bolelli (Italy) bt Potito Starace (Italy) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4; Mario Ancic (Croatia) bt Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; 5-Igor Andreev (Russia) bt Frank Dancevic (Canada) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.

Women’s:

First round: 8-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) bt Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 6-1, 6-2; Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) bt Angelique Kerber (Germany) 6-1, 7-5; Alize Cornet (France) bt 7-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 6-2, 6-4; Vera Dushevina (Russia) bt Emelyn Starr (Australia) 6-0, 6-1; Melanie South (Great Britain) bt Marion Bartoli (France) 1-1 ret; 3-Elena Dementieva (Russia) bt Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 7-5, 6-1; Jarmila Gajdosova (Slovakia) bt Karin Knapp (Italy) 6-4, 6-2; Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) bt Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-2, 6-2; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) bt Jill Craybas (US) 6-2, 6-3; Sara Errani (Italy) bt Casey Dellacqua (Australia) 6-1, 6-2; Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) bt Klara Zakopalova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-0; 2-Dinara Safina (Russia) bt Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 6-2, 6-1; Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) bt Anastasiya Yakimova (Belarus) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Sunday’s results:

Women’s:

First round: 5-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Peng Shuai (China) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3; 1-Serena Williams (US) bt Samantha Stosur (Australia) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5; 6-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) bt Sybille Bammer (Austria) 6-4, 6-3.

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