MONTREAL, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Anna Kournikova looked to build upon her best results of the season Monday night when she took on Japanese qualifier Saori Obata in the first round of the $1.22 million Rogers AT&T Cup.
Earlier Monday, No. 10 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy kicked off her North American hardcourt campaign with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Maureen Drake of Canada.
Kournikova reached her third semifinals of the season two weeks ago at the Acura Classic in San Diego. She beat then-No. 18 Anna Smashnova in the quarterfinals, but fell to No. 5 Jelena Dokic after holding two match points in the second set.
A trio of seeded players fell Monday. Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina toppled No. 11 Anastasia Myskina of Russia, 6-3, 6-1; Alexandra Stevenson of the United States eliminated Smashnova, the 13th seed from Israel, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4); and Spanish qualifier Virginia Ruano Pascual crushed No. 14 Anne Kremer of Luxembourg, 6-1, 6-0.
No. 12 Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic reached the second round with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 come-from-behind win over American qualifier Jill Craybas.
In matches between unseeded players on Monday, Slovakian qualifier Henrieta Nagyova outdueled France's Mary Pierce, 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (4-7), 7-5. Nagyova beat the two-time Grand Slam champion for the first time in three lifetime meetings.
Also, Nathalie Dechy of France rolled over Iva Majoli of Croatia, 6-3, 6-1, Amanda Coetzer of South Africa eased past Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 6-2, 6-2. Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand defeated Tina Pisnik of Slovenia, 6-0, 6-1.
A pair of Spaniards reached the second round. Cristina Torrens Valero held off Belgium's Els Callens, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-3, and Magui Serna outlasted Paraguay's Rossana Neffa-De Los Rios, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
Austria's Barbara Schett rallied past American Marissa Irvin, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga beat Uzbekistan's Iroda Tulyaganova, 6-1, 6-2, and Australia's Nicole Pratt eased past Belarus' Tatiana Poutchek, 6-1, 6-2.
Serena Williams, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, is seeded No. 1 as she attempts to defend her crown. She defeated Capriati in last year's final in Montreal and was runner-up here two years ago to Martina Hingis.
Hingis returns to action this week after undergoing surgery to repair torn and damaged ligaments in her left ankle. She has not played since Hamburg in early May, when she reached the semifinals and won the doubles title with Schett.
Williams and Hingis, as well as the rest of the top eight seeds, received first-round byes.
