Stuttgart, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Rising Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia upset former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in Tuesday's opening-round action at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
A two-time finalist already in 2015, the 29th-ranked Garcia dismissed the fifth-seeded Serbian star Ivanovic 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 on the indoor clay at Porsche Arena.
Ivanovic was last year's Stuttgart runner-up to reigning three-time champion Maria Sharapova.
Other matches involving seeds on Day 2 saw No. 6 Russian left-hander Ekaterina Makarova take out American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) and No. 8 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain hold off Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.
Also on Tuesday, Czech Lucie Safarova topped Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6 (10-8), 6-4; Spaniard Garbine Muguruza doused Czech Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-4; American Madison Brengle bested Italian lucky-loser Alberta Brianti 6-4, 6-4; and Russian lucky-loser Marina Melnikova, making her WTA debut, defeated Croatian qualifier Petra Martic 6-4, 6-2.
The top seeds at this star-studded tournament are the French Open champion and former No. 1 star Sharapova, French Open runner-up Simona Halep, Wimbledon titlist Petra Kvitova and U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, the former top-ranked star who was a Stuttgart finalist back in 2011.
Halep will face the capable Muguruza on Wednesday.
Also on the Day-3 schedule are seventh-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska and German crowd favorites Sabine Lisicki, Angelique Kerber and 2011 champ Julia Goerges.
The 2015 Stuttgart champion will earn $108,000 and a new Porsche 911 Carrera sports car.
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