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Kirilenko topples Kuznetsova

Maria Kirilenko was thrilled to beat French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova © Getty Images

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Maria Kirilenko secured a big win over fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round of the Internazionali BNL D'Italia.

The contest was the first of the second-round games in Rome and Kirilenko took the scalp of the No. 5 seed in three sets: 6-2 3-6 6-4.

Kirelenko produced some quality play in the opening set and such was her dominance when receiving, she broke serve on three occasions.

The 2009 French Open winner Kuznetsova is a real force on clay and roared back to force a final set courtesy of some excellent hitting from the baseline.

Kirelenko was not overawed and a fast start took her to 4-1 in the final set. Kuznetsova found her stride and successive breaks of serve levelled the match, but just as it appeared Kuznetsova would win through she faltered and the summed up her fitful effort by firing into the net at match point down.

Shahar Peer cruised into the second round, with the Israeli thrashing Caroline Dentoni 6-2 6-1.

Peer, the No. 16 seed, has shown some fine form this season and was much too strong for her wildcard opponent. Peer claimed three breaks of serve in the opening set and was totally dominant in the second, conceding just one game, as she wrapped up the win in a shade over an hour.

The No. 13 seed Francesca Schiavone battled back from losing the first set to beat Daniela Hantuchova 3-6 6-2 6-2, while her fellow Italian, the No. 12 seed Flavia Pennetta eased past Akgul Amanmuradova 6-2 6-3.

Ana Ivanovic made her way into the second round with a 6-1 6-3 win over Elena Vesnina, while Patty Schnyder battled to a 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(5) win over Gisela Dulko. Schnyder appeared to be cruising to victory when 5-1 up in the final set, but Dulko reeled off five games on the spin only to falter in the breaker.

The first-round battle between Americans Melanie Oudin and Bethani Mattek-Sands went the way of the latter, who secured a 6-1 6-3 win.

Flavia Pennetta had too much quality for Akgul Amanmuradova © Getty Images

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The 11th seed Yanina Wickmayer was pushed all the way by Karolina Sprem, with the Belgian claiming a 6-3 1-6 6-4 win.

Two qualifiers fell by the wayside in the first round, as Ayumi Morita was beaten 6-4 6-2 by Aravane Rezai and Bojana Jovanovski was toppled 6-2 6-2 by Yaroslava Shvedova.

Roberta Vinci gave the home fans in Rome something to cheer when edging out Alisa Kleybanova in two tie-break sets, but fellow Italian Sera Errani was beaten 2-6 6-1 6-4 by Alexandra Dulgheru.

The opening match in the Estoril Open threw up as shock, as No. 3 seed Aleksandra Wozniak was sent crashing out 6-1 6-1 by Julie Georges.

Georges was totally dominant from the outset and three breaks of serve helped her breeze through the opening set.

It got no better for Wozniak in the second as despite securing a break of her own, she was broken every time Georges secured a break point, three times in all, as the German secured victory in 49 minutes.

Sybille Bammer was another seed to fall by the wayside in Portugal, as she was beaten 6-1 6-3 by Kirsten Flipkens; Tatjana Malek was a 6-4 7-5 winner over Klara Zakopalova.

The tournament also lost its No. 1 seed as Anastasija Sevastova took the scalp of Agnes Szavay, winning 3-6 6-3 6-3. One seed sidestepped the carnage, Shuai Peng eased past Julie Coin 6-2 6-2.

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