No. 3 seed Radwanska tops Baltacha
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Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland was extended before winning her opening match with a 6-0, 7-6 (4) victory over Great Britain's Elena Baltacha in the Mercury Insurance Open on Tuesday.
Radwanska, who received a bye into the second round, saved two set points at 5-4 in the second set before Baltacha saved one match point to force the tiebreaker.
No. 3 ranked and top-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia plays her first match at night against U.S. qualifier Jill Craybas, followed by second-seeded Andrea Petkovic, who opens with American Alexa Glatch.
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Two seeded players lost as qualifier Marina Erakovic of New Zealand upset No. 14 seed Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-1, 6-2 and Alberta Brianti of Italy was a 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 winner over 10th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
No. 11 seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Canada's Rebecca Marino; 12th-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany beat Italian Greta Arn 6-0, 6-2; and No. 15 seed Sara Errani of Italy defeated Sania Mirza of India 6-2, 6-3.
Kirilenko did not face a break point on her serve as she hit 75 percent of her first serves. She also took advantage of a back injury Marino suffered in the first set.
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Kirilenko, who lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals last week at Stanford, was rarely pushed by her Canadian opponent.
"I think I played great today," Kirilenko said. "I did everything that we planned. I was happy with that. I tried to mix my game because she is tall."
Both players sought injury treatment at the end of the first set. The Russian saw a trainer for a pain in her left leg, Marino for a lower back injury.
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"I did a couple of drop shots and I could see that she was running a little bit (slower)," Kirilenko said.
Lisicki, who lost to Maria Sharapova in the Wimbledon semifinals, was pleased with her overall game.
"I didn't have too much time to adapt because I just came here two days ago," she said. "A little bit different conditions (than last week at Stanford), so I was happy with the way I played."