Updated on
Summary Lucie Safarova beat Margarita Gasparyan 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to reach 2nd round of the Kremlin Cup.
Eighth-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic advanced to the second round of the Kremlin Cup on Monday by beating Russian wild-card entry Margarita Gasparyan 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.Safarova won five consecutive games in the first set, and then broke twice in the third before serving out the match at love.I met her (Gasparyan) for the first time and I didnt know whom I was playing against, Safarova said. She was serving very well while I was a little bit down in the second, allowing her to level. But I caught my tennis right away at the beginning of the third (set) to take the set and the match. Im happy to win tonight.In the second round, Safarova will face fellow Czech Klara Zakopalova, who beat Alexandra Cadantu of Romania 6-3, 6-3.Urszula Radwanska of Poland ousted 2009 champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-3, 6-1.Schiavone, the 2010 French Open winner, made an early break but lost 5 consecutive games to lose the first set.Radwanska won four straight games in the second set and closed out the match when Schiavone sent an easy forehand into the net.Radwanska will next play former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who entered the event on a wild card.In the mens first round, sixth-seeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan rallied to beat German veteran Bjorn Phau 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.He will next face Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic, who ousted Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 7-6 (9), 7-6 (2).The 43rd-ranked Istomin, who reached his second career final in San Jose in February, took a 5-0 lead in the third set and served out the match at love.Eighth-seeded Tatsumo Ito of Japan beat Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.Earlier, Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden marked her Kremlin Cup debut with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia.Samantha Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open Champion, is the top-seeded player in the womens draw, while Marion Bartoli of France is No. 2.Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine leads the mens field of the 23rd edition of the tournament. Andreas Seppi is seeded second.
