Petrova battles into second-round
August 24, 2010 12:58:20 UK
Eighth seed Nadia Petrova came from a set down to defeat Varvara Lepchenko and book her place in the second-round of the Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven.
The Russian lost the first-set 6-1 to the American Lepchenko as she took two of her four break-point chances.
However, Petrova recovered well to take the next two sets 7-5 6-1.
Elsewhere, fourth seed Elena Dementieva claimed a comfortable 6-1 6-2 win over Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, while Daniela Hantuchova was a 7-5 6-3 victor against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi and Kateryna Bondarenko defeated Petra Kvitova by the same scoreline.
Dominika Cibulkova had to battle her way into the second round past a spirited Melanie Oudin.
The Slovakian breezed through the opening set 6-2 before Oudin levelled the match by winning the second set 7-5, and Cibulkova eventually triumphed as she won the final set 6-4 to complete a match lasting just over three hours.
Italy's Sara Errani was a comfortable 6-1 6-2 winner against China's Jie Zheng and qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands saw off the challenge of Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2 6-1.
And there was also a victory for wild card Dinara Safina, who has enjoyed some better form of late, as she recovered from a set down to beat third seed Francesca Schiavone 1-6 6-3 6-1.
The first-round at New Haven concludes today and the highlight's include Elena Vesnina (2.00) v Maria Kirilenko (1.72), Alona Bondarenko (4.00) v Marion Bartoli (1.22) and Alisa Kleybonova (3.25) v Flavia Pennetta (1.33).
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