seeded Maria Sharapova struggled through to the second round of the Strasbourg International with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over fellow Russian Regina Kulikova. After defeat in the first round at Madrid last week, Sharapova needed 2 hours and 14 minutes Monday to claim her first victory on clay this season. The formerly top-ranked Sharapova, who has been hampered by an injury to her right elbow this season, converted only four of 22 break points. Anastasia Rodionova of Australia also advanced to the second round with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Ayumi Morita of Japan. Bondarenko, Dulgheru thru In Poland, sixth-seeded Alona Bondarenko beat Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-3, 6-1 Monday to advance to the second round of the rain-disrupted Warsaw Open. Bondarenko's match was delayed for several hours by heavy rainfall, and the Ukrainian's sister Katerina Bondarenko then lost 6-3, 6-1 to defending champion Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania in the only other completed match of the day. Kubot beats Mina In France, eighth-seeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland beat Gianni Mina of France 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Open de Nice Monday. Kubot, a finalist in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, earlier this year, broke the French teenager three times and will next face Potito Starace of Italy. Earlier, Olivier Rochus of Belgium beat Adrian Mannarino of France 6-3, 6-1 to set up a meeting with top-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden. Leonardo Mayer rallied to defeat French qualifier David Guez 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. The Argentine hit six aces and converted all four break points. He will take on fourth-seeded Tomaz Bellucci of Brazil. Simon Greul of Germany downed local favorite Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-4 while Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-5, 6-2. US beats Australia In Germany, John Isner and Sam Querrey beat Carsten Ball and Paul Hanley in doubles Monday to give the United States a 2-1 victory over Australia at the World Team Cup. With brothers Bob and Mike Bryan still en route from Madrid after claiming their record-equaling 61st doubles title, the American duo won 5-7, 6-4, 10-8 in a champions tiebreaker. Also in the Red Group, the Czech Republic clinched a win over Spain after Tomas Berdych outlasted Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 to give his team a 2-0 lead ahead of the doubles. The winner of each group will meet in Saturday's final. In the Blue Group, France defeated Germany 2-1 after Jeremy Chardy and Nicolas Mahut beat Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 in the doubles. Argentina beat Serbia after Juan Monaco rallied for a 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Victor Troicki for a 2-0 lead after the singles. Troicki then teamed with Nenad Zimonjic to beat Eduardo Schwank and Zeballos 6-1, 3-6, 10-8 in a meaningless doubles match.
