Barrois advances in Paris

PARIS, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Kristina Barrois won a tight three-set match in first-round play Monday at the GDF Suez Paris Open tennis tournament.

Barrois edged Iveta Benesova 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in a match that took 2 hours, 15 minutes. Barrios won five more points (102-97) than Benesova.

Benesova won 68 percent of the points on serve but Barrios was able to bunch enough points when receiving serve to get four breaks, including two in the final set.

The Barrois-Benesova pairing was the only main draw match on Monday's schedule.

The $618,000 tournament begins in earnest Tuesday. World No. 2 Kim Clijsters is the top seed in the field. If she advances to the tournament semifinals, Clijsters will regain the world No. 1 ranking.