Mirza through after three set win to Peer on Day 1 in Osaka

Two of the three seeds in first round action at the HP Open went down on Monday, including one of the hottest players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

Prior to September, Shahar Peer had not won a Tour singles title in three years, but then she captured Guangzhou and Tashkent in consecutive weeks without dropping a set, to go from No. 64 in the world at the start of September to No. 34 at the start of October. She fell to No. 38 after losing in the first round in Beijing last week, and then repeated that result Monday, as Sania Mirza edged the fifth-seeded Israeli, 36 63 64.

In other main draw matches Monday, No. 4 seed Francesca Schiavone and No. 7 seed Melinda Czink advanced, but No. 8 seed Yaroslava Shvedova was outlasted by Mathilde Johansson.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Singles - First Round

(4) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Anne Kremer (LUX) 75 62

Sania Mirza (IND) d. (5) Shahar Peer (ISR) 36 63 64

7) Melinda Czink (HUN) vs. (WC) Ryoko Fuda (JPN) 64 64

Mathilde Johansson (FRA) d. (8) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 75 26 75

Viktoriya Kutuzova (UKR) d. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 62 ret. (knee injury)

Katie O'Brien (GBR) d. Alexa Glatch (USA) 63 64