Wickmayer through to next round

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:58

Belgian Wickmayer, a semi-finalist at the 2009 US Open, was granted a wild card for the event after a Belgian court lifted a year-long ban imposed for falling foul of the controversial ‘whereabouts’ drug-testing system on three occasions.

She made smooth progress past Goerges, winning 6-3 7-5, and admitted afterwards it was nice to be back on court, saying: “It has been a tough time for me, so it was nice to be on the court again to compete.”

Top seed Flavia Pennetta was another winner, seeing off Jill Craybas 6-2 6-4.

“I was really nervous in the beginning,” said Pennetta. “It is tough to start the year with everyone expecting so many things.

“I’m really happy because I didn’t play my best tennis but I was able to get through this match. Maybe the next day I will play much better – I hope so.”

Dominika Cibulkova defeated Alexandra Dulgheru 6-0 6-3, veteran Japanese player Kimiko Date Krumm beat Anna Chakvetadze 6-1 6-2 but eighth seed Anabel Medina Garrigues went down 6-2 6-3 to Magdalena Rybarikova.

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