Bartoli into Pan Pacific Open second round

TOKYO (AFP) –

Marion Bartoli of France returns the ball against Kumiko Date-Krumm of Japan during the women’s singles first round match at the Pan Pacific Open tennis in Tokyo. Bartoli defeated Date-Krumm 6-1, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Japan.

Marion Bartoli of France defeated local hope Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-1, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Japan on Monday.

The 27-year-old, seeded ninth, dominated the match from the start with a series of powerful strokes, taking a 5-0 lead in the first before beating the veteran Japanese in straight sets.

Date-Krumm made a go of it in the second set, fighting back from 0-2 down to make it 3-3, but a fifth double fault in the seventh game and two further unforced errors later in the set gave victory to Bartoli.

“I knew she would be able to fight until the end. She’s staying in her home country, and she’s very much a fighter, said Bartoli, ranked 10th in the world.

“I was able to catch up with her rhythm and take the game away from her. Even if I won the second set, it was extremely tough,” added the French star.

Tenth seed and 2010 winner Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who enjoyed her first title of the season at the Korea Open on Sunday, joined Bartoli in the next round by beating Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.

Eleventh seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia reached the second round when Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic was forced to retire and concede the match at 6-3, 2-0 in the second set.

In other action, Nadia Petrova of Russia outclassed China’s Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-4, while 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy edged past Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

American Jamie Hampton, Pauline Parmentier of France, Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, Simona Halep of Romania, Poland’s Urszula Radwanska, Tamira Paszek of Austria and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia also advanced.

World number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Russian Maria Sharapova were among the top seeds to receive byes into the second round.