Two seeds left in Budapest; Hungarian fans have someone to cheer for

It was another day of different reactions and surprises in Hungary, as there are only two seeds entering the quarterfianls.

The Tier III quarterfinalist are seeds No. 2 and No. 7, two local Hungarian players, Petra Kvitova, Andreja Klepac, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, and Karolina Sprem.

After Hungarian top seed Agnes Szavay went flying home after losing to Andreja Klepac on Wednesday, it looked like there wasn't going to be a Hungarian champion this year, but after Katalin Marosi beat 3rd seed Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets, there are still hopes for a local champion.

For the 28-year-old Marosi, who mainly plays on the ITF circuit, this is her first Tour-level event this season. Ranked No.799, Marosi next faces Karolina Sprem, who knocked out the No.6 seed Pauline Parmentier on Wednesday.

It was also a good day for local player Greta Arn, who previously represented Germany but now represents Hungary. For the 29-year-old, it was a quick win in straight sets against wildcard Zuzana Kucova, 62 61.

No. 7 seed Klara Zakopalova had better fortunes after winning to French player Mathilde Johansson, 60 61. Alize Cornet and Zakopalova are the only seeds left in the tournament.

Another easy match was between Petra Kvitova and Martina Muller. Kvitova won in straight sets, 62 61, and will now face Klepac, who has a 1-0 lead in head-to-head against Kvitova.

Klepac may have some work to do.

Top seed exits Budapest along with Safarova

Top seed Agnes Szavay made an early exit at Budapest, so did Lucie Safarova, one of the favorites at the Gaz de France Grand Prix.

Against world No. 123 Andreja Klepac from Slovenia, Szavay struggled and was beaten easily in straight sets, 62 63. Szavay, who had a fabulous year reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon and more, appeared not as confident on clay, falling in her opening match, recieving a first round bye.

No. 2 seed Alize Cornet had a better day, as she also played her first match of the tournament, and unlike Szavay, won it in straight sets . The French teen beat Magdalena Rybarikova 62 62. Ranked No. 20, Corent has played extremely well on clay, reaching the Rome and Acapulco finals, semifinals at Amelia Island and Charleston and third round at Roland Garros.

Anna-Lena Groenefeld made a great comeback as she played only her second match of 2008. She outplayed favorite No. 5 seed Lucie Safarova in the first match of the day, winning 61 64. Groenefeld, who hadn't played a Tour event in nearly a year, was pleased with her performance on Wednesday; ranked No.14 in the world in April 2006, Groenefeld will need to rely on her experience as she faces No.2 seed Cornet for a semifinal berth.

Also through to the quarterfinals is Croatian Karolina Sprem, who beat Tzipora Obziler, 62 61. Sprem, whose best prior result this year was a third-round finish at Amelia Island, could face No.3 seed Tsvetana Pironkova in the quarterfinals.

Three seeds out in Hungary; Hungarian succeeds

Rain and thunderstorms caused big trouble in Hungary, delaying matches, and at the end of the day, the tournament lost three seeds already.

Fans rejoined to watch Hungarian Greta Arn succeed, knocking out No.4 seed Iveta Benesova; and it was a bad day for the French, as two of the country's players were flying home. Greta Arn got revenge as she knocked out Iveta Benesova in straight sets 64 64, who was victorious against Arn in the qualifying rounds of this year Roland Garros.

French No. 6 seed Pauline Parmentier recieved an au revoir from the tournament, after losing in straight sets 75 62 to former top 20 Croatian player Karolina Sprem, who is now ranked No. 329. Parmentier had never played in a second round this year since Amelia Island, where she got to the third round.

Sprem will play No. 7 seed Klara Zakopalova, who also knocked out a French player, Stephanie Cohen-Aloro. It wasn't a difficult match, as Klara outplayed the French woman in straight sets, 62 62.

As the 4th, and 6th seeds were ousted, the third was No. 8 Sorana Cirstea. Cirstea was ousted in straight sets 62 64 Petra Kvitova, who played well enough to reach the fourth round at this year's Roland Garros, her Grand Slam debut.

Safarova moves on to the next round; Groenefeld follows

The French Open finished a month ago, the grass court season just ended, and there are a coulpe of tournaments this week for the clay specialists before the hard court season gets going.

The Tier III Gaz de France Grand Prix tournament in Hungary was one of the events that started today. Day 1 at the Hungarian capital saw a local player, Kira Nagy, get defeated by fifth seeded Lucie Safarova in straight sets, 62 62. It wasn't going to be easy for the No. 182 to beat a quarterfinalist at Barcelona.

Veteran Tzipora Obziler show that age has no matter, as the 35-year-old outplayed youngster Ioana Raluca Olaru, 63 62.

It was a welcome back win for Anna-Lena Groenefeld, playing her first Tour event in 2008, after a bad time on the ITF circuit. She also defeated a local player, Palma Kiraly, in straight sets, 60 64.

The final qualifying matches were also played, seeing Lucie Hradecka, Veronika Chvojkova, Zuzana Kucova and Natasa Zoric through to the main draw.