Kuznetsova eases through to next round

12 April 2012

Svetlana Kuznetsova breezed to a 6-1 6-4 victory over local player Martina Muller in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Wednesday.

The second seed Kuznetsova pushed her career title total to seven with victories at the Wismilak International and the China Open in September.

She accomplished the same feat in 2004 by winning the US Open and Wismilak, but came up short for a third straight, losing to Serena Williams in the final of the China Open.

One of four players to receive a bye in the first round, Kuznetsova has won all three of the career meetings with Muller, all this season.

Another player coming off a first-round bye was fellow Russian and fourth seed Elena Dementieva, who overcame a slow start for a 4-6 7-5 7-5 triumph over Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik.

In the first round, eighth seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia continued her strong play with a 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 victory over France's Mary Pierce. Jankovic has reached the semi-finals in each of her last events, including the US Open for her best showing at a Grand Slam.

Her next opponent will be qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, who blew past Croatia's Karolina Sprem 6-1 6-4.

Coming off her eighth career loss in a final without a win at the Fortis Championships on Sunday, number seven Francesca Schiavone was ousted from the tournament, retiring from her first-round match while trailing Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic, 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 3-0.

In the other first-round match, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia posted a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory over Sybille Bammer of Austria.

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