BARCELONA, Spain – Top-seeded Francesca Schiavone was eliminated in the first round of the Barcelona Open on Tuesday, losing 6-4, 6-3 to qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
Both players struggled with their serve, combining for 17 double faults in the match, and Govortsova used an extra break in each set to beat the 2010 winner.
"I knew I had to be aggressive against her, and I did a good job of that today," said Govortsova, who improved to 3-2 against the Italian and set up a second-round match with Laura Pous-Tio of Spain.
Second-seeded Julia Goerges and No. 3 Dominika Cibulkova easily avoided upsets.
Goerges' earned a 6-4, 6-0 victory over French opponent Aravane Rezai, while Cibulkova defeated Iryna Bremond of France 6-0, 6-3 on the outdoor clay at the Vall d'Hebron Center.
Fifth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy beat Lara Arruabarrena-Veci of Spain 6-0, 6-4 and will face Yuliya Beygelzimer of Ukraine in the only other matchup involving a seeded player.
In other first-round matches, Carla Suarez Navarro, Pous-Tio, Estrella Cabeza Candela, Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Klara Zakopalova all earned victories to advance.
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