INDIANA WELLS, Calif., March 9 (UPI) -- Romina Oprandi collected a first-round victory at the $2.1 million Pacific Life Open, earning a shot at second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Players completed the first round of the huge tournament with 16 matches Thursday, including Oprandi's 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Lilia Osterloh. The 32 women given seeds at the Pac Life had first-round byes, and Oprandi's prize for surviving her first match is a draw against Kuznetsova.
Also Thursday, Bethanie Mattek had no trouble with Brenda Schultz-McCarthy in a 6-1, 6-1 decision and now faces sixth-seeded Nicole Vaidisova, and Vania King got by Kateryna Bondarenko 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 and must go against 10th-seeded Ana Ivanovic.
Other first-round winners were: Ahsha Rolle, Vasilisa Bardina, Iveta Benesova, Anastassia Rodionova, Elena Likhovtseva, Gisela Dulko, Tsvetana Pironkova, Tamarine Tanasugarn, Alicia Molik, Laura Granville, Aiko Nakamura, Marta Domachowska and Meng Yuan.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova is the top seed for the tournament and must advance to the semifinals to retain her world No. 1 ranking over Justin Henin, who is not at the Pac Life.
The tournament finals are set for March 18 with the winner taking home $306,890.
