BASTAD (Sweden), July 8 Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark advanced to the second round of the Swedish Open on Tuesday after beating Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-1, 6-3.
The ninth-ranked Wozniacki broke Arvidsson twice in the first set and once in the second to complete the win in 1 hour, 3 minutes. Wozniacki, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last week, saved all three break points she faced on the clay.
Also on Tuesday, second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova beat Swedish wild card Sandra Roma 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, while No. 3 Flavia Pennetta beat fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 7-5.
Maria Kirilenko of Russia and 15-year-old Ellen Allgurin of Sweden also advanced with straight-set wins, while Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic won after Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine retired with a right wrist injury when trailing 6-3, 4-1.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding)
First round Masa Zec Peskiric (Slovenia) bt Michaela Johansson (Sweden) 6-2, 6-0; 1-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) bt Sofia Arvidsson (Sweden) 6-1, 6-3; Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) bt Julia Vakulenko (Ukraine) 6-3, 4-1 (Vakulenko retired); Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spain) bt 4-Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) 6-1, 7-6(1);
Angelique Kerber (Germany) bt Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Czech Republic) 7-5, 6-4; 2-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt Sandra Roma (Sweden) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1; Ellen Allgurin (Sweden) beat Ksenia Palkina (Kyrgyzstan) 6-4, 6-4; Nuria Llagostera Vives (Spain) bt Ayumi Morita (Japan) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2; 3-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) bt Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-2, 7-5; Maria Kirilenko (Russia) bt Irina Buryachok (Ukraine) 6-0, 6-4.
RAIN HALTS PLAY
NEWPORT (Rhode Island) Heavy rain halted the only three matches that began at the Hall of Fame Championships on Tuesday, ending play before two-time defending champion Fabrice Santoro got onto the grass court.
The start of action was delayed for about 2 hours before three matches began.
After a second delay of approximately 90 minutes, play resumed for just over 20 minutes before thunderstorms halted play for the day.
Seventh-seeded Kevin Kim of the United States lost the first set against Sebastien Grosjean of France 6-4, and play was stopped during the first game of the second set.
Results
First round Sebastien Grosjean (France) leads 7-Kevin Kim (US) 6-4, 0-0 (40-40), suspended, rain; 6-Philipp Petzschner (Germany) leads Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) 6-4, 3-4, suspended, rain; Sam Groth (Australia) leads Ricardo Mello (Brazil) 7-5, 0-3, suspended, rain.
CORNET MOVES AHEAD
BUDAPEST (Hungary) Second-seeded Alize Cornet of France defeated Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday in the first round of the Budapest Grand Prix.
Cornet, the defending champion, took a 4-2 lead in the first set, and finished off the match by winning the last four games in the second.
Results
First round Tathiana Garbin (Italy) bt Sharon Fichman (Canada) 6-1, 6-4; Raluca Olaru (Romania) bt Greta Arn (Hungary) 6-2, 6-2; Patricia Mayr (Austria) bt Margalita Chakhnashvili (Georgia) 6-0, 7-5; Shahar Peer (Israel) bt Irina Begu (Romania) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4; Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) bt Lenka Jurikova (Slovakia) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4; 4-Agnes Szavay (Hungary) bt Katalin Marosi (Hungary) 6-1, 6-1; Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) bt 7-Sara Errani (Italy) 5-7, 6-4, 6-0; Petra Martic (Croatia) bt 8-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 7-6(5), 6-0; Mariya Koryttseva (Ukraine) bt Anna Lapushchenkova (Russia) 6-4, 6-2; 2-Alize Cornet (France) bt Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) 6-3, 6-1; 5-Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) bt Monica Niculescu (Romania) 6-0, 6-3; 3-Sybille Bammer (Austria) bt Klara Zakopalova (Czech Republic) 6-2, 6-3.
—Agencies