MOSCOW (AP) — Defending champion Dominika Cibulkova advanced to the second round of the Kremlin Cup, rallying to beat Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The fifth-seeded Slovakian struggled in the first set, losing four consecutive games. But she broke Makarova in the 10th game of the second set to stay in the match and soon jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set.
Also, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria beat Varvara Lepchenko of the United States 6-0, 7-6 (3), and Vesna Dolonc of Serbia eliminated Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
In the first round of the men’s tournament, Konstantin Kravchuk of Russia beat Evgeny Korolev of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3, and Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands defeated Michael Berrer of Germany 7-6 (7), 6-3.
