Amanmuradova wins Tashkent 1st rounder

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Local favorite Akgul Amanmuradova advanced to the second round of the WTA's Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan with a straight-set victory.

Amanmuradova, the tournament's No. 2 seed, defeated Eirini Georgatou 6-4, 6-3. She was in command much of the day but Georgatou fought off three match points before Amanmuradova finished off the match.

Top-seeded Alexandra Dulgheru, despite having her serve broken five times, escaped the first round with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Kurumi Nara. Dulgheru won just more than half the point when serving but took 62 percent of the points and eight breaks off Nara's 10 service games.

Third-seeded Anna Chakvetadze defeated Zuzana Kucova 6-3, 7-5 behind five breaks of serve; No. 5-seeded Monica Niculescu needed more than 2 1/2 hours to get by Zarina Diyas 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2 and sixth-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova had six service breaks in a 6-3, 6-3 romp over Sabina Sharipova.

Also in matches involving seeded players: seventh-seeded Alla Kudryavtseva blew past Yuliana Fedak 6-4, 6-1 in 67 minutes; and No. 8-seeded Maria Elena Camerin topped Elena Bovina 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 despite nine double faults.

In first-round matches Tuesday involving unseeded players: Ekaterina Bychkova edged Sania Mirza 6-1, 4-6, 7-5; Olga Savchuk blitzed Nadejda Guskova 6-2, 6-2; Darya Kustova got past Nigina Abduraimova 5-7, 6-3, 6-3; Alexandra Panova beat Nina Bratchikova 6-4, 6-4; and Jill Craybas advanced over Ksenia Palkina 6-2, 6-3.