Prague, Czech Republic (SportsNetwork.com) - Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia was among the seeded players shown an early exit Monday at the Prague Open.
Joining the fourth-seeded Kuznetsova as upset victims Monday were Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu and Italy's Camila Giorgi, while fifth-seeded Alize Cornet of France managed to avoid the quick elimination.
China's Shuai Zhang knocked out Kuznetsova with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph, while Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic thumped the sixth-seeded Begu, 6-3, 6-3. Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer rallied past the eighth-seeded Giorgi, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Cornet, though, had little trouble in her 6-3, 6-3 win over Slovakian wild card Kristina Schmiedlova. Next up for the Frenchwoman will be Czech wild card Denisa Allertova, who eased past American CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-4, 6-1.
Other winners on a busy first day included Russian Elena Vesnina, Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic and Polona Hercog of Slovenia.
Vesnina pounded Slovakia's Jana Cepelova, 6-2, 6-1, while Krunic came from behind for a 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 victory over Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Hercog outlasted Britain's Heather Watson, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), in a match that took more than three hours to complete.
The top three seeds this week all hail from the host country.
Top-seeded Karolina Pliskova will headline Tuesday's first-round action against Germany's Annika Beck, while second-seeded Lucie Safarova will play countrymate Tereza Smitkova and third-seeded Barbora Strycova will take on American Madison Brengle.
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