Fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska cruised into the second round of the WTA hardcourt tournament here on Monday, but eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova worked hard to get past Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm.
Poland’s Radwanska defeated Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-1, 6-2.
“It was a good match,” said Radwanska, who is seeking her first WTA title in three years, but has enjoyed solid results this season including a quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open and the fourth round at Roland Garros.
“I am very happy to have won my first hardcourt match and especially under hot conditions,” she said.
Radwanska next faces Taiwan’s Chang Kai-Chen, who rallied from an early deficit to beat American Hilary Barte 7-5, 6-4.
Slovakia’s Cibulkova, ranked 19th in the world, was playing for the first time since falling in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon to Maria Sharapova.
Her 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Date-Krumm was her eighth win in 10 matches. She hasn’t lost more than two matches in a row all season.
However, she admitted that she nearly lost her composure after falling behind 5-1 in the tiebreaker.
“I’m a player who really needs to control my emotions,” Cibulkova said. “I went a little crazy once I lost my serve at 6-6.”
She managed to hang on, but said it wasn’t easy against a player of Date-Krumm’s experience.
“It’s not easy to play Kimiko,” Cibulkova said. “She’s a tough opponent. In the first set, I just played aggressively like I should and was going for my shots.”
Cibulkova booked a match with American Christina McHale, a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic.
Canadian Rebecca Marino defeated American Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-4 to set up a meeting with third-seeded Marion Bartoli of France.
? CITI OPEN
AP, COLLEGE PARK, Maryland
Britain’s Elena Baltacha hung on in a second-set tiebreak to beat Yaroslava Shvedova on Monday and advance to the second round of the inaugural Citi Open just outside Washington.
Baltacha beat the Kazakh 6-2, 7-6 (5) to set up a second round meeting with France’s Virginie Razzano, who was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Japan’s Misaki Doi.
On a good day for Britons, Heather Watson beat Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-4, 6-1 and will next take on Canada’s Stephanie Dubois, who ousted seventh-seeded Sania Mirza of India 7-5, 6-4.
In a match of two Americans, Varvara Lepchenko beat Sloane Stephens 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Her second-round opponent will be either eighth-seeded Alberta Brianti of Italy or another Briton, Anne Keothavong.
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