(Sports Network) - Top seeds Dinara Safina and Serena Williams were straight-set winners Sunday in the first round of the China Open.

The top-seeded Safina notched a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Italy's Roberta Vinci, while the second-seeded Williams topped Estonia's Kaia Kanepi, 7-5, 6-4.

Other seeded winners Sunday included Russians Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva.

The fourth-seeded Dementieva advanced with a 6-4, 6-0 rout of Germany's Anna- Lena Groenefeld, while the sixth-seeded Kuznetsova disposed of China's Jie Zheng, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, and the seventh-seeded Zvonareva eased past Romania's Sorana Cirstea, 6-2, 6-2.

One minor upset saw Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez knock off fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-0.

Ninth-seeded Victoria Azarenka also moved on with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over fellow Belarussian Olga Govortsova and 14th-seeded Marion Bartoli of France needed three sets to beat Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Unseeded winners Sunday included Russia's Ekaterina Makarova, who will face Williams in the second round, and China's Shuai Zhang, who will next take on Safina.

The first round will conclude Monday, while the second round will also begin.

Venus Williams is among those scheduled for second-round play on Monday. She is the third seed this week and will take on Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The 2009 Beijing champion will collect a whopping $775,500.



Copyright 2009 The Sports Network
All rights reserved

 Email To Friend