BARCELONA, Spain, April 26 (UPI) -- No. 3-seeded Tsvetana Pironkova was one of four seeded players to lose Tuesday during the first round of the Barcelona Ladies Open tennis tournament in Spain.
Only one of the seeded players on Tuesday's nine-match schedule was able to advance, with fourth-seeded Ekaterina Makarova, No. 7-seeded Iveta Benesova and ninth-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova joining Pironkova as upset victims.
Fifth-seeded Sara Errani bucked that trend in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor. Errani placed 80 percent of her first serves and won 70 points of the points on serve and 61 percent when Torro-Flor served.
Alberta Brianti's win over Pironkova was nearly as one-sided, as she won 6-1, 6-2 and converted all six of her break-point chances.
Makarova was beaten 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 by Mirjana Lucic while Lucia Hradecka topped Benesova 6-4, 6-4 and Laura Pous Tio was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Zahlavova Strycova.
Other first-round winners Tuesday were Virginie Razzano, Polona Hercog, Varvara Lepchenko and Gisela Dulko.
