It was a good day for some seeds, bad for the others. Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze had a tough day and were pushed to the limits by their opponents on day one on the third Grand Slam of the year. Kuznetsova, seed 4th, was down 1-3 in the third set but eventually won to qualifier Mathilde Johansson 67(5) 75 63. Chakvetadze saved to match points against Stephanie Dubois (two at 5-3 in the third, one at 5-4) to win 26 61 86. Both Russians had a heap of unforced errors, Kuznetsova with 30, and Chakvetadze with a whooping 55 mainly off the backhand side.
No. 1 seed and rank Ana Ivanovic and Serena Williams the No. 6 seed, had fewer worries in their opening matches, Ivanovic slaying veteran Rossana de los Rios from Paraguay 61 62, and the younger Williams sister crushing Estonian Kaia Kanepi who was in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros this year, 75 63.
"I played quite well today, especially considering it's my first match of the year on grass," Ivanovic said. "Today was a tough one. She started hitting the ball really well right from the start, so I had to stay focused. I served really well and played quite aggressively, and I was pleased with how the match turned out."
"I kept thinking, I can't lose serve," said Williams on the 5-5 game of her first set, where Kanepi had a break point. "She was playing unbelievable to me. I felt like she wasn't making any errors, like I just had to hang in there and stay positive."
Other seeds winning were Marion Bartoli, Agnieszka Radwanska, Agnes Szavay, Nicole Vaidisova, Francesca Schiavone, Alona Bondarenko and Amélie Mauresmo. No.11 seed Bartoli made a winning return to the site of her greatest career result; she made a Cinderella run to her first Grand Slam final here a year ago before falling to Venus Williams, and on Monday beat Sabine Lisicki in straight sets to advance to the second round. No.29 seed Mauresmo, the champion here in 2006 and a former No.1 looking to regain some lost confidence after a relatively disappointing season, also moved on in straight sets, against Ashley Harkleroad.
No. 1 seed and rank Ana Ivanovic and Serena Williams the No. 6 seed, had fewer worries in their opening matches, Ivanovic slaying veteran Rossana de los Rios from Paraguay 61 62, and the younger Williams sister crushing Estonian Kaia Kanepi who was in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros this year, 75 63.
"I played quite well today, especially considering it's my first match of the year on grass," Ivanovic said. "Today was a tough one. She started hitting the ball really well right from the start, so I had to stay focused. I served really well and played quite aggressively, and I was pleased with how the match turned out."
"I kept thinking, I can't lose serve," said Williams on the 5-5 game of her first set, where Kanepi had a break point. "She was playing unbelievable to me. I felt like she wasn't making any errors, like I just had to hang in there and stay positive."
Other seeds winning were Marion Bartoli, Agnieszka Radwanska, Agnes Szavay, Nicole Vaidisova, Francesca Schiavone, Alona Bondarenko and Amélie Mauresmo. No.11 seed Bartoli made a winning return to the site of her greatest career result; she made a Cinderella run to her first Grand Slam final here a year ago before falling to Venus Williams, and on Monday beat Sabine Lisicki in straight sets to advance to the second round. No.29 seed Mauresmo, the champion here in 2006 and a former No.1 looking to regain some lost confidence after a relatively disappointing season, also moved on in straight sets, against Ashley Harkleroad.
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