Teen spirit: Vaidisova tops Pavlyuchenkova in Moscow
MOSCOW -- Nicole Vaidisova beat fellow teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-3, 6-3 Monday to reach the second round at the Kremlin Cup.
Vaidisova, a 17-year-old Czech, dominated her 15-year-old opponent, breaking Pavlyuchenkova twice in the second set.
Shahar Peer defeated Elena Bovina 6-0, 6-2, while Elena Likhovtseva won 11 consecutive games to eliminate Maria Elena Camerin 6-0, 6-1. In the first all-Russia match, Vera Zvonareva beat Vera Dushevina 6-3, 6-2.
Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo, who has a right shoulder injury, is expected to decide later Monday whether to play in the indoor tournament.
U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova, seeded second, leads a record 15 Russian women in the main draw. Sharapova lost to Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals last year.
"I want to perform at my top here, because last season I had a disappointing trip," said Sharapova, who had a chest muscle injury last year. "I definitely feel a lot physically better then I did when coming into this event last year."
The top four seeded players -- Mauresmo, Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva -- have byes in the first round.
In men's matches, Jan Hernych defeated Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-4, and Teimuraz Gabashvili beat Gilles Muller 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
