Lisicki among upset victims in Doha

DOHA, Qatar, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Ninth-seeded Sabine Lisicki was among three seeded players to lose three-set matches Tuesday at the Qatar Total Open tennis tournament.

Angelique Kerber, who is 14-3 this year after winning the tournament in Paris last week, ousted Lisicki 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in first-round play. Kerber improved to 4-0 lifetime versus Lisicki.

Kerber ended up with six breaks, with half coming in the final set when she won 57 percent of the points receiving and lost only three points on serve.

Flavia Pennetta topped 11th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in a seesaw match that saw 15 service breaks in 29 games. The match was tight -- Pennetta won 51 percent on serve and 50 percent receiving -- but Pennetta advanced on four third-set breaks.

Simona Halep eliminated No. 15-seeded Daniela Hantuchova 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). Like Kerber, Hantuchova, who titled in Thailand, was coming off a tournament win but saw a seven-match winning streak snapped in the third-set tiebreaker after 2 1/2 hours of play.

No. 16 Julia Goerges was the only seeded player on Tuesday's schedule to get to the second round as she beat Anastasiya Yakimova 6-2, 6-2. Goerges won two-thirds of the points on serve.

Other winners Tuesday included Iveta Benesova, Virginie Razzano, Yanina Wickmayer and Petra Cetkovska. Also moving to the second round were Sorana Cirstea, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Maria Kirilenko and Lucie Safarova.