Stosur, Petkovic among winners in Brisbane

BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Top seeds Samantha Stosur and Andrea Petkovic picked up first-round wins Monday at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Australia.

Stosur, seeded No. 1, defeated Anastasiya Yakimova 6-2, 6-3 by winning nearly 70 percent of the points on serve. She had four breaks in eight Yakimova service games and won more points -- 28-23 -- when receiving than Yakimova managed to hold while serving.

Petkovic, seeded second, fought off Shahar Peer 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 6-3. She lost serve eight times in 14 games, including all four of her service games in the first set. Petkovic steadied her game in the third set, winning 68 percent of the points on serve in advancing.

Fourth-seeded Serena Williams was an easy 6-2, 6-3 winner over Chanelle Scheepers in 69 minutes. Williams lost her serve just once and cashed in all four of her break-point chances.

No. 6-seeded Jelena Jankovic beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-4 and seventh-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova advanced when, after Pavlyuchenkova built a 6-1, 4-1 lead, Polona Hercog retired.

Galina Voskoboeva posted a 6-0, 6-0 rout over Vera Dushevina. She saved five break points and took two-thirds of the points in the match.

Also posting first-round wins Monday were Ana Ivanovic, Vania King, Nina Bratchikova, Kaia Kanepi and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.