Bulgarian teen Sesil Karatantcheva upset No. 13 seed Shinobu Asagoe of Japan 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 during the opening day of the US$1.3 million WTA Acura Classic on Monday.
The 15-year-old Karatantcheva, who will turn 16 on Aug. 8, rallied back after a shaky second set to defeat Asagoe. Karatantcheva also defeated Asagoe at Roland Garros this year.
Karatantcheva will take on Lisa Raymond in the second round after the American came back from a set down to defeat France's Marion Bartoli 1-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Asagoe wasn't the only seed to fall to an up-and-comer on Monday, as No. 12 Tatiana Golovin of France lost 6-4, 6-4 to Russian teen Anna Chakvetadze.
The top eight seeds received first-round byes. Defending US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, along with Elena Dementieva, Nadia Petrova and last week's Stanford tournament winner Kim Clijsters of Belgium are among the players taking part in this week's event.
On the night card, No. 16 Dinara Safina of Russia saved four opening set points en route to a 7-6 (13-11), 6-4 victory over former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez of Spain.
In the final match of opening day, No. 14 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia scored a 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 win over Russian Maria Kirilenko.
Italian 15th seed Flavia Pennetta dispatched unseeded American Marissa Irvin 6-2, 6-2.
The tournament is lacking some star power after defending champion Lindsay Davenport (ailing back), Serena Williams (sore ankle), Maria Sharapova (back strain) and Justin Henin-Hardenne (injured hamstring) pulled out with injuries.
Wimbledon champion Venus Williams opted to skip the event after falling to Clijsters in the final at Stanford on Sunday.
Despite the loss of the big-name players, the slimmed-down field is deep, boasting a trio of Russians as its headliners. Without Davenport, Kuznetsova is the top seed, though technically No. 2, as she returns to the North American hard courts for the first time this summer to prepare to defend her US Open title later this month.
Dementieva, a two-time Grand Slam finalist last year, and Petrova are seeded next at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.
"It feels strange," Kuznetsova said. "I've never been a top seed in a tournament so big. I don't mind, I just come here to play."
Dementieva can't remember playing a tournament in which so many top players pulled out prior to a big tournament.
"That's the first time so many have pulled out. It may be because the season is too long and it's not easy to change from grass court to the hard court. Maybe it's not enough time ... [It's] gonna be a good event even without the others," she said.
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