Vinci, Hercog claim wins in Carlsbad

CARLSBAD, Calif., Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Seeded players Roberta Vinci and Polona Hercog each needed three sets Monday to advance at the Mercury Insurance Open tennis tournament in California.

Vinci, seeded ninth, rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Bojana Jovanovski. Vinci won nearly two-thirds of the points in third set, losing just seven points over four service games.

Hercog, the No. 16-seed, edged past Natalie Grandin 7-6 (7-1), 2-6, 6-4. Hercog had 10 double faults and lost her serve eight times in 15 games but she won after converting two of her seven break-point chances in the third set.

Christina McHale won more than three-quarters of the points in a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Zoe Gwen Scandalis and Elena Baltacha dropped just one game in a 6-0, 6-1 romp past Melanie Oudin while Jill Craybas had five service breaks in a 6-1, 6-1 win over fellow qualifier Marie-Eve Pelletier.

Also Monday, Vera Dushevina defeated Aravane Rezai 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Coco Vandeweghe topped Sorana Cirstea 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3; Vania King slipped past Rika Fujiwara 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 and Sofia Arvidsson needed just 65 minutes to defeat Ashley Weinhold 6-3, 6-1.

Zheng Jie outlasted Mirjana Lucic 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); Virginie Razzano was a 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 winner over Lucie Hradecka; and Alexa Glatch took out Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-2.