BRUSSELS: French Open champion Francesca Schiavone beat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-2, 7-5 to reach the second round of the Brussels Open. Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia also advanced, defeating Anastasia Rodionova of Australia 6-2, 6-3. On a good day for seeded players, No. 7 Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania came from behind to beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 and eighth-seeded Peng Shuai of China also needed three sets to beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-0, 1-6, 6-3. Sixth-seeded Yanina Wickmayer defeated Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in a tough three-setter 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Another Belgian also went through, qualifier Alison Van Uytvanck overcoming Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. American lucky loser Irina Falconi also advanced to the second round, defeating Zuzana Ondraskova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3. Fellow American Abigail Spears beat Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-3, 6-1, and Japan's Ayumi Morita beat Zheng Jie of China 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Benneteau downs Baghdatis In Nice, French wild card Julien Benneteau upset sixth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the first round of the Open de Nice Tuesday. Benneteau converted three of four break opportunities to claim his third win in five matches over Baghdatis and avenge a straight-set loss three weeks ago in Munich. It was also his first win on clay this season. Latvian wild card Ernests Gulbis rallied to beat eighth-seeded Fabio Fognini 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 after saving nine of 11 break points. Sergiy Stakhovsky also advanced by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-3. The seventh-seeded Stakhovsky set up a match against Robin Haase. The Dutch lucky loser defeated Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-3, 6-4. Carlos Berlocq came from behind to beat Austrian qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer 5-7, 6-3, 6-0. US tied with Kazakhstan In Germany, the United States was level with Kazakhstan at 1-1 in the World Team Cup after Mardy Fish defeated Andrey Golubev 6-4, 6-2 and Mikhail Kukushkin outlasted Sam Querrey 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 Tuesday. Serbia led Russia 2-0 thanks to Dusan Lajovic, who substituted for the injured Janko Tipsarevic, overcoming Igor Andreev 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, and Viktor Troicki overwhelming Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-1. Germany took a 1-0 lead over Spain as Florian Mayer defeated Marcel Granollers 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Fish reached the doubles final in Rome last week, but partner Andy Roddick was forced to default the match due to a right shoulder injury. As a consequence, the ATP took the decision not to award the team prize money as the losing finalists, but pay them for reaching only the semifinals. Bartoli, Petkovic win In Strasbourg, top-seeded players Marion Bartoli and Andrea Petkovic reached the second round of the Strasbourg International with straight-sets wins Tuesday. Bartoli, seeded No. 1, overcame problems with her serve to beat Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-2, 6-1 after breaking the Japanese veteran six times. The Frenchwoman next plays Elena Baltacha of Britain, who was leading 6-3 when Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia retired. The second-seeded Petkovic made light work of Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-1 in an all-German match. Eighth-seeded Lucie Hradecka beat American qualifier Ahsha Rolle 6-3, 6-4. The Czech will next play Stephanie Foretz Gacon of France, who defeated Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko 6-4, 6-1. China's Zhang Shuai beat Pauline Parmentier of France 6-2, 6-4, Mirjana Lucic of Croatia beat Christina McHale of the United States, 7-5, 7-6 (7) and France's Alize Cornet prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 over Sania Mirza of India.
