Dementieva keeps on Istanbul win track

ISTANBUL, Turkey, May 21 (UPI) -- Elena Dementieva opened defense of her Istanbul Cup tournament title with a straight-set victory Wednesday.

Dementieva, as the top-seed, had a first-round bye so her first tournament match was a second-round affair with Liana Ungur that Dementieva took 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). She advanced to a third-round pairing with seventh-seeded Jill Craybas, who took out Vania King, 6-4, 6-2, in her second-round match.

All the seeded players won in straight sets Wednesday, led by second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who routed Sorana Cirstea, 6-0, 6-0. No. 3-seeded Nadia Petrova's win was nearly as lopsided, as she beat Marta Domachowska, 6-2, 6-2. Fourth-seeded Olga Govortsova stopped Nathalie Vierin, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.

Also Wednesday, sixth-seeded Akgul Amanmuradova defeated Aiko Nakamura, 6-3, 6-3; No. 8-seeded Tsvetana Pironkova was an easy 6-2, 6-1 winner over Veronika Chvojkova; and unseeded Andreja Klepac rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Stephanie Dubois.