FEZ, Morocco – Former U.S. and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the second round of the Grand Prix SAR by beating Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-1, 7-5 on Tuesday.
The second-seeded Russian, whose last tour singles title came in 2010, broke Daniilidou seven times.
Third-seeded Petra Cetkovska of Czech Republic beat Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-4, 6-2, and fifth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania advanced when Fatima Zahrae El Allami of Morocco retired after losing the first set 6-1.
Qualifiers Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands and Garbine Muguruza Blanco of Spain won their first-round matches along with Sweden's Mathilde Johansson and Spain's Laura Pous-Tio.
Bertens beat Poland's Urszula Radwanska 6-4, 7-5, and Muguruza Blanco outlasted Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
In late matches, Israel's Shahar Peer beat Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, and Arina Rodionova of Russia won the opening set 6-2 against Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky but retired when down 4-0 in the second.
Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands beat seventh-seeded Klara Zakopalova of Czech Republic 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (9) in a match that was halted Monday at 5-5 in the third set because of darkness.
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