Kerber, Molik advance to second round

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BIRMINGHAM, England -- Li Na overcame a sluggish start to defeat Yaroslava Shvedova 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the second round of the DFS Classic on Tuesday.

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Li, who became the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals of a major at Wimbledon last year, found her stride in the second set. She won 11 of the last 12 games in her first match on grass this year.

The fourth-seeded Li had a bye in the first round.

"The bounce was very low," Li said. "And it gives you a different kind of physical exercise. Last year I played quite well on grass and I really want to do better."

Two seeded players lost in first-round play Tuesday, as No. 11 Olga Poutschkova was upset 6-0, 6-0 by Angelique Kerber of Germany and No. 10 Severine Bremond was defeated 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Alicia Molik.

Molik will play Vania King in the second round, after the American defeated Brenda Schult-McCarthy 7-6 (7), 7-6 (7).

Top seed Maria Sharapova, who is aiming for her third title here, also had a bye in the first round and starts play Wednesday against Lilia Osterloh.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

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