Palkina surprises Govortsova

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:03

Palkina posted a 7-6 (9/7) 4-6 7-5 victory over her Belorussian opponent to set up a second-round meeting with Ioana Raluca Olaru, who swept aside Britain’s Katie O’Brien 6-2, 6-1.

Chinese top seed Peng Shuai had no such problems in seeing off Arina Rodionova of Russia 6-4 6-1.

Third seed Sorana Cirstea and sixth seed Monica Niculescu also both made it through, the former beating Ekaterina Dzehalevich 7-6 (7/4) 7-5 while Niculescu was leading 7-5 0-1 when her opponent Olga Savchuk retired through illness.

Also through to the second round are Urszula Radwanska, Yaroslava Shvedova, Anna Lapushchenkova, Michelle Larcher de Brito, Vesna Manasieva, Tatiana Poutchek and Alexandra Panova.

The match between Vlada Ekshibarova and Arantxa Rus was suspended due to rain with Ekshibarova leading 4-3 in the first set.

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By Tim Farthing

About the Author / Tim Farthing

Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.