Stuttgart, Germany – Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova survived her opener, while former world No. 1 and 2011 Stuttgart runner-up Caroline Wozniacki came up a first-round loser Wednesday at the $795,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The fifth-seeded Czech left-hander Kvitova popped seven aces before holding off German wild card Annika Beck 7-5, 6-7 (0-7), 6-3 in 2 hours, 26 minutes, while gritty Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro doused the seventh-seeded Danish Wozniacki 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 on the red clay at Porsche Arena.
German favorite Julia Goerges was leading Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 2-1 when the Belgian retired on Day 2.
In some other first-round action, Czech Lucie Safarova handled German Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-1, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova overcame fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-4, and Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova topped Italian Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-2. Vinci was a titlist in Poland just two weeks ago, beating Kvitova in the final
This week's top seed is new Porsche global brand ambassador and reigning Stuttgart champion Maria Sharapova, who beat Victoria Azarenka in last year's marquee finale.
The 2013 Stuttgart champ will collect $130,000 and a new Porsche 911 Carrera.
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