Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova caused the only upset on the first day of the season-opening Brisbane International when she swept aside fifth-seeded Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-2, 6-1.
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The powerful Russian took just over an hour to defeat Bacsinszky and set up a clash against Frenchwoman Alize Cornet. Cornet booked her place in the second round when she beat fellow countrywoman Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-4.
Dominika Cibulkova survived a scare from Belgian Yanina Wickmayer to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the tournament’s first match at the Pat Rafter Arena.
The Slovakian was down 4-3 in the third set before storming home to see off Wickmayer in two hours and 11 minutes.
“I was really, really strong, especially mentally,” she said. “In these first tournaments of the season… you never know what to expect.”
Former Brisbane finalist Andrea Petkovic of Germany was untroubled in her 6-1, 6-2 win over Brazilian Teliana Pereira. Petkovic will take on either third seed Maria Sharapova or Ekaterina Makarova in the second round.
In the only other main draw match Varvara Lepchenko of the US beat Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-1 and will now face second-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain.
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka begins her campaign today when she plays Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina, while the men’s draw gets underway when fifth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon clashes with Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.