It was a day of mixed fortunes for women’s fourth seed Marion Bartoli and third seed Nadia Petrova.
For the second year in a row Petrova has been shown the door after her first match, last year it was Justine Henin who ushered her out, today it was Czech Petra Kvitova.
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Kvitova’s serve was the difference between the two, with the world No.34 winning 85 per cent of her first serves. Serving so strongly, Kvitova only offered one break point opportunity, which she duly defended.
Petrova will now start her Sydney preparations earlier than she would have expected.
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The news for fourth-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, however, was much better.
The former Wimbledon finalist made light work of qualifier Vania King, dismissing her in straight sets, 6-1 6-2.
King didn’t have any answers for Bartoli who pressured the American from the baseline and from the service line, with the Frenchwoman striking seven aces.
Bartoli, who was a finalist here in 2009, will have to wait until later this evening to find out who she will play from the first round match between Polona Hercog and Iveta Benesova.
In other main draw matches today, Sam Stosur thrilled her home crowd with a first-round win over Lucie Hradecka, second seed Shahar Peer outclassed Australian wildcard Sophie Ferguson, Michael Berrer knocked out Dudi Sela, Lukasz Kubot was too strong for Daniel Brands.
Meanwhile, Dominika Cibulkova needed just 62 minutes to book her spot in the second round of the women’s main draw.
The Slovakian had no problems with Italy’s Sara Errani, who she dismissed 6-3 6-0. Cibulkova is guaranteed to meet another Italian in the second round, which one is yet to be determined – either Roberta Vinci or Flavia Pennetta who play on Tuesday.
In the night session at Pat Rafter Arena, men’s second seed Andy Roddick takes on Australian Marinko Matosevic followed by Jelena Dokic versus qualifier Anastasia Pivovarova.
Tickets are still available for Brisbane International 2011 from Ticketek.