Errani, Kerber advance at Bogota

BOGOTA, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Italian Sara Errani and Germany's Angelique Kerber registered first-round wins Monday at the Copa Colsanitas tournament in Bogota.

Errani, the No. 3 seed, had little trouble dispatching Belarusian Anastasiya Yakimova 6-0, 6-4 on the clay courts, while No. 5 Kerber had to hold on to defeat Canadian Sharon Fichman 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

No. 6 Czech Sandra Zahlavova breezed by Russian Alexandra Panova 6-3, 6-2 while eighth-seeded Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja struggled to overcome Ukrainian Olga Savchuk 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-2.

The tourney's top seed, Argentine Gisela Dulko, was the runner-up in last year's event. The 2009 Bogota champion, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain, is not defending her title.