  Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark wipes her face with a towel during a break in her match against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London June 27, 2011. (REUTERS/Eddie Keogh0 |
BASTAD, SWEDEN - Top seeds Caroline Wozniacki and Flavia Pennetta posted first-round victories Tuesday at the $220,000 Swedish Open.
The world No. 1 Wozniacki handled France's Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour, 35 minutes, while the Italian Pennetta got past Australian qualifier Olivia Rogowska 6-2, 7-5 on the red clay at Bastad Tennis Stadium. The Danish Wozniacki was the Bastad runner-up two years ago.
The 20-year-old Wozniacki is fresh off her disappointing fourth-round finish at Wimbledon last week.
Wozniacki's second-round opponent will be Sweden's own Sofia Arvidsson, while Pennetta will face German Angelique Kerber on Day 3.
A Day-2 upset came when sixth-seeded Czech Iveta Benesova gave way to Spaniard and fellow left-hander Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-2, 6-0. Benesova was fresh off her mixed doubles title at Wimbledon on Sunday.
Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Russian Vera Dushevina topped German qualifier Mona Barthel 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) and eighth-seeded Slovenian Polona Hercog humbled Georgian Anna Tatishvili 7-5, 6-3.
The aforementioned Arvidsson advanced with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Czech Andrea Hlavackova.
Other opening-round winners were Kerber, Romanian Sorana Cirstea, and Spaniards Arantxa Parra Santonja and Nuria Llagostera Vives.
The 2011 Swedish Open champion will pocket $37,000.
