ISTANBUL — Agnieszka Radwanska and Serena Williams started their round-robin play at the WTA Championships with comfortable wins here Tuesday. While Radwanska beat erratic titleholder Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-2, Serena Williams of the United States defeated Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 6-1. Kvitova came into the encounter riding a 25-match winning streak indoors but she was in trouble immediately, losing the first three games. Although she recovered to level, Radwanska broke serve again and served out the set. Kvitova dropped her first two service games of the second, and broke back once, but the former Wimbledon champion was unable to threaten the steadier Pole. It was only Kvitova's second loss — and her first in four matches against Radwanska — in 28 indoor matches over two years. She was undefeated in winning the title last year. Tomic thrashed In Switzerland, Bernard Tomic was badly beaten in the first round for a third straight tournament, with the Australian No. 1 shunted out of the Swiss Indoors 6-0, 6-2 Tuesday by Mikhail Youzhny. Tomic, who just turned 20, has not won a match since the second round in Bangkok one month ago after losing early in Tokyo and Shanghai. The 48th-ranked Tomic lost serve five times in the rout and managed only one ace as the experienced Russian sixth seed took just 56 minutes to wrap up his ticket to the secound round. Matthew Ebden, however, saved the day for Aussie pride with his defeat of Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Ebden, ranked 115, never faced a break point against the lucky loser from qualifying as he won in just under 90 minutes. The Australian will have a chance for revenge Friday as he faces Tomic's conqueror Youzhny. Ebden is bidding for his third quarterfinal in a year after Atlanta in July and 2011 Shanghai. Roger Federer eased to victory in the first round Monday, beating Benjamin Becker of Germany 7-5, 6-3. Federer, the defending champion who is seeking his sixth Basel title in seven years, served 10 aces against the 83rd-ranked qualifier. The top-ranked Swiss is heavily favored to claim his seventh title this year after US Open champion Andy Murray pulled out with a back injury Friday. The Briton's withdrawal elevated Juan Martin del Porto of Argentina to No. 2 seed. Also Monday, third-seeded Richard Gasquet of France rallied past Robin Haase of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, Julien Benneteau of France beat Russia's Andrey Kuznetzov 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, and Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot defeated Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4. Ferrero down and out In Spain, Juan Carlos Ferrero's singles career came to an emotional end when he lost 7-5 6-3 to his Spanish compatriot and close friend Nicolas Almagro in the Valencia Open first round Tuesday. A former world No. 1 who won the French Open in 2003 but whose career was hampered by injuries, Ferrero announced last month he would retire after playing his home event. Top-seeded David Ferrer labored past a stubborn Olivier Rochus 7-5, 7-5 to reach the second round. Rochus saved five break points before succumbing to Ferrer on serve in the 10th game of the second set. The fifth-ranked Spaniard then held on despite 42 unforced errors, releasing a big breath of relief after closing it out in 2 hours, 13 minutes when the Belgian netted. Earlier, Sam Querrey of the US beat Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (4) to deal a blow to the Spaniard's hopes of playing in next month's Davis Cup final. Also, Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine beat Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-3, 7-6 (5). On Monday, John Isner outlasted Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5 for the American to also stay in the hunt for a spot at the World Tour Finals. The 11th-ranked Isner plays Albert Ramos of Spain, who defeated Rajeev Ram of the US 6-3, 6-3. Sharapova not backing pay rise for first round losers Maria Sharapova is not convinced it is a good idea to give first round losers at next year's Australian Open a huge pay increase as part of a $4 million rise in overall prize money. Tournament organizers announced earlier this month that the total prize money pool at the opening Grand Slam of 2013 had risen to $30 million, making it the richest event in tennis. While the exact breakdown of prize money is yet to be announced, it is expected that the biggest increases will be weighted toward the early rounds — a move intended to counter concerns that lower-ranked players were struggling to sustain careers on the ATP and WTA Tours. — Agencies
