Stosur, Ivanovic take Day 1 Paris wins

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PARIS, May 27 (UPI) -- Sixth-seeded Samantha Stosur and former champions Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova were among the Day 1 winners Sunday at the French Open.

Reigning U.S. Open champ Stosur, who was the French runner-up in 2010, handled Elena Baltacha of Britain 6-4, 6-0 on the red clay courts at Roland Garros in Paris.

No. 13 seed Ivanovic, the 2008 champ, advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing of Spain's Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino and will next face Israel's Shahar Peer, who handled Stephanie Dubois of Canada 6-2, 6-2.

Meanwhile, 2009 champion Kuznetsova breezed past Croatia's Mirjana Lucic 6-1, 6-3.

Also notching a win Sunday was unseeded American great Venus Williams, who rallied to defeat Argentina's Paula Ormaechea 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Sunday's other winners included 10th-seeded German Angelique Kerber, No. 20 Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Italian Sara Errani, Americans Melanie Oudin and Irina Falconi, Irena Pavlovic of France and Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.