Cirstea takes tight first-round win

BARCELONA, Spain, April 12 (UPI) -- No. 5-seeded Sorana Cirstea needed nearly 2 hours to escape with a straight-set, first-round win Monday at the $220,000 Barcelona Ladies Open.

Cirstea claimed a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Tamira Paszek in a match that took 1 hour, 57 minutes. Cirstea managed five service breaks but had to fight through four drops of service games herself in making the second round of the clay-court tournament.

Kristina Barrois stopped Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2 in the only other match completed Monday. Barrois won 70 percent of the points on serve, losing just 17 points over 10 service games.

Stefanie Voegele and Arantxa Parra Santonja were tied 4-6, 6-4, 2-2 when rains forced suspension of play. They are to complete that match Tuesday as part of a 14-match card.

Top-seeded Francesca Schiavone is to play Alberta Brianti Tuesday and second-seeded Aravane Rezai goes against defending champion Roberta Vinci in her first-round match.