Seoul, Korea – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and Germany's Julia Goerges were among the winners Monday in the first round of the Korea Open.
The third-seeded Pavlyuchenkova rallied for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues, the 2009 runner-up at this event. Pavlyuchenkova is a two-time winner this year, taking the Monterrey Open in April and the Portugal Open in May. She was a third-round loser most recently at the U.S. Open.
Goerges, seeded sixth this week, eased past Japan's Misaki Doi, 6-3, 7-5. Her best result this year was a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open and Monday's win was just her second in her last eight events.
Spain's Lara Arruabarrena pulled off a mild upset with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 win over fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine. She'll next play Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru, a 6-0, 7-6 (7-0) winner over Korean wild card Han Sung- Hee.
Vera Dushevina of Russia and Virginie Razzano were also first-round winners Monday. Dushevina posted a 6-4, 6-1 triumph over Spain's Silvia Soler- Espinosa, while Razzano thumped Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 6-1, 6-1.
Korean wild card Lee Ye-Ra advanced with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Russia's Daria Gavrilova and will next face Pavlyuchenkova in the second round.
The top seeds for this event are Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska and Russian Maria Kirilenko. Kirilenko won this event in 2008 after finishing as the runner-up the previous year.
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