Chakvetadze loses first-round Sydney match

SYDNEY, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Katarina Srebotnik upset fifth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze in the opening round Monday of the $600,000 Medibank International tennis tournament in Sydney.

Srebotnik ended up with a relatively easy 7-5, 6-1 win over Chakvetadze in the first day of the final tuneup tournament before the Grand Slam season opens next week with the Australian Open.

In another upset, No. 8-seeded Elena Dementieva was beaten 6-1, 7-5 by Sofia Arvidsson.

Also picked up victories Monday were Nicole Vaidisova, Tatiana Golovin, Kaia Kanepi, Francesca Schiavone and Shahar Peer.

The tournament's first round continues Tuesday with the top four seeds all scheduled to play.

That includes world No. 1 Justine Henin, who missed the early part of the 2007 season for personal reasons but later in the year won two Grand Slam events. She won the Australian Open in 2004 and was second in 2006.