Kuznetsova, Safarova, Pliskova advance at Prague Open

Posted April 26, 2016 7:00 am

The Associated Press

PRAGUE (AP) - Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-0, 5-7, 6-1 in the first round of the Prague Open on Tuesday.

Second-seeded Lucie Safarova also advanced after rallying to beat Mariana Duque-Marino 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

For the Czech, last year's finalist at the French Open, it was her first singles victory of the season.

Safarova will next face Lucie Hradecka, who beat lucky loser Andrea Hlavackova 6-4, 6-1.

Also, defending champion and third-seeded Karolina Pliskova defeated Stefanie Voegele 6-1, 6-3.

Fourth-seeded Samantha Stosur rallied to defeat qualifier Sorana Cirstea 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, fifth-seeded Barbora Strycova beat Olga Govortsova 6-3, 7-5 and lucky loser Barbora Krejcikova eliminated seventh-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2.

Other winners included Camila Giorgi, Virginie Razzano, Marketa Vondrousova and Monica Puig.

This story has been corrected to show that the 3rd set score in Lucie Safarova's match was 6-3, not 6-4

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