BERLIN, May 6 (UPI) -- Third seed Justine Henin-Hardenne, who received a first-round bye, began defense of her $1.22 million German Open title Tuesday with a straight sets victory over Czech Daja Bedanova.
Henin-Hardenne, who moved into the No. 2 spot when Venus Williams withdrew with an abdominal strain, needed just 74 minutes for a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
"I probably didn't play my best tennis today, but I did my job like I had to do," the Belgian said. "It's my first match on the red clay and the first match in every tournament is tough because you don't know what to expect. I enjoy playing in Germany, it's good organization and I'm comfortable here."
Seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia had a tougher time, but defeated Austria's Barbara Schett, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, in her second-round match. Hantuchova injured herself early in the second set.
"When I hit a sliced backhand, I hit the inside of my knee and it hurt," she said. "It was a bad bounce and I hit it too close to me and I hit my knee with the grip of the racket. It's getting worse and I'm glad I'm not playing singles Wednesday. Hopefully the physicians will do a good job and it's going to get better for the next match."
Hantuchova has had quick exits in several tournaments since reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Unseeded Magui Serna of Spain provided the upset of the day, knocking off sixth-seeded American Chanda Rubin, 7-5, 6-3.
In first round action featuring seeded players, Denisa Chladkova of the Czech Republic upset No. 11 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 6-4; No. 12 Eleni Daniilidou of Greece bounced German wild card Angelika Bachmann, 6-2, 6-2; American Meghann Shaughnessy, seeded 14th, ousted Iva Majoli of Croatia, 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-4; No. 15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland beat Els Callens of Belgium, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; and No. 16 Anna Pistolesi of Israel crushed Tatiana Panova of Russia, 6-1, 6-1.
Germany's Marlene Weingartner beat Conchita Martinez of Spain, a winner here in 1998 and 2000, 6-2, 7-5.
