Top seed Medina Garrigues advances
FEZ, Morocco -- Top-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain advanced to the second round of the Grand Prix SAR on Tuesday by beating Camille Pin of France 6-1, 6-1.
Need the scores from any match played in today's tournaments? Medina Garrigues, who lost last year's final to Gisela Dulko, won 86 percent of points on her first serve and broke Pin six times. She next faces Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, who beat Urzula Radwanska of Poland 7-5, 6-2.
Second-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia also progressed to the second round by defeating Corinna Dentoni 6-2, 6-4, breaking her Italian opponent's serve twice in each set.
Kleybanova next plays Jarmila Groth of Slovakia, who advanced by beating Paula Fondevila Castro of Spain 6-3, 7-5.
Shahar Peer, who was denied a visa for a tournament in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year, also advanced, beating Aravane Rezai of France 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
The 53rd-ranked Peer was playing in an Arab country for the first time since she was denied a visa for the Dubai Tennis Championships in February. At the time, Dubai authorities cited security fears to justify their decision, which came as many Arab countries stepped up their boycott against Israel in the wake of its deadly military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy avoided an upset when she rallied from a set down to defeat Mariana Duque Marino of Colombia 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. But No. 5 Sorana Cirstea of Romania lost to Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-3, 6-4.
Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic beat Nadia Lalami of Morocco 6-4, 6-3; Eva Fernandez-Brugues of Spain beat Czech player Petra Cetkovska 2-6, 6-4, 6-2; Melinda Czink of Hungary rallied past Nathalie Vierin of Italy 3-6, 6-2, 6-0; and Polona Hercog of Slovenia beat Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia 6-1, 6-2.
Also, British player Anne Keothavong beat Maret Eni of Estonia 6-2, 7-6 (3); Akiko Morigami of Japan advanced when Fatima Zahrae El Allami of Morocco retired at 6-2, 5-5; and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia beat Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-2.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
