 |
| Anna Chakvetadze was a straight-sets winner over No. 12 Tatiana Golovin© Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images |
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) -- Anna Chakvetadze scored one of two upsets Monday in the Acura Classic, ousting 12th-seeded Tatiana Golovin.
Chakvetadze, one of 11 Russians in a field of 64, defeated the French player 6-4, 6-4 on the opening day of the $1.3 million event.
Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria pulled off the other upset with a 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 victory over No. 13 Shinobu Asagoe of Japan.
Chakvetadze pulled out an evenly played match in which she scored just six points more than Golovin.
No. 16 seed Dinara Safina of Russia overcame four first-set points to hold off Spain's Conchita Martinez 7-6 (11), 6-4. Martinez committed unforced errors on each of her four set points to give the 1-hour, 24-minute set to Safina, who won the match when Martinez hit a backhand wide.
In another night match, 14th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia defeated Russia's Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (5), 6-1.
None of the top seeds saw action Monday in the tournament, hit hard by players pulling out with injuries. The event, which normally draws one of the WTA Tour's strongest fields outside the four Grand Slams, has only four of the top 10.
Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport withdrew Sunday with a strained lower back. Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams also dropped out because of injuries.
US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, ranked fourth in the world, is the top attraction in the tournament. She will play Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic, a 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1 winner over Russia's Evgenia Linetskaya.
In other first-round matches, No. 15 Flavia Pennetta of Italy defeated Marissa Irvin 6-2, 6-2, and Lisa Raymond took Marion Bartoli of France 1-6, 6-0, 6-3.