Luxembourg, Luxembourg – Canada's Rebecca Marino upset seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Tuesday's first-round action at the $220,000 Luxembourg Open.
Marino sent her fellow 20-year-old Pavlyuchenkova packing in come-from-behind fashion, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, on the indoor hardcourts at CK Sportcenter Kockelscheuer.
Meanwhile, sixth-seeded 2010 Luxembourg runner-up Julia Goerges avoided an upset by handling Britain's Elena Baltacha 7-5, 6-1, while another upset came when Czech Lucie Hradecka overcame eighth-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-1. The German Goerges lost to Italian Roberta Vinci in last year's finale here. Hantuchova was the 2007 Luxembourg runner-up.
Other Tuesday winners were Romanians Monica Niculescu and qualifier Alexandra Cadantu, British qualifier Anne Keothavong, and Italian Alberta Brianti. Keothavong dismissed a wild card, Luxembourg's own Mandy Minella, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
On Wednesday, top-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will take on Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and fifth-seeded former world No. 1 Serb Ana Ivanovic, the 2007 Luxembourg titlist, will play France's Virginie Razzano in a pair of opening-round affairs. And the second round will get underway with matches for the likes of Goerges and seventh-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko.
The 2011 Luxembourg titlist will collect $37,000.
