HOBART, Australia, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Anna Chakvetadze lost only four games Sunday in claiming a first-round upset win at the Moorilla Hobart International tennis tournament in Australia.
Chakvetadze ousted No. 3-seeded Monica Niculescu 6-0, 6-4 behind five service breaks. She established control of the match early, taking more than two-thirds of the points in the opening set.
Sorana Cirstea also posted an upset, eliminating seventh-seeded Ksenia Pervak 6-2, 7-6 (8-6). Cirstea dropped serve just once. Pervak saved all four of the break points she faced in the second set but couldn't hold Cirstea off in the tiebreaker.
Eighth-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu was the only seeded player to win Sunday, beating Elena Baltacha 6-2, 7-5. Begu finished off all six of her break-point chances.
Also, Simona Halep beat Klara Zakopalova 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 and Anastasia Rodionova was a 6-4, 7-5 winner over Greta Arn.
Yanina Wickmayer is the No. 1 seed for the tournament, which serves as a final tuneup for the Australian Open. Jarmila Gajdosova, the fifth seed, was known as Jarmila Groth when she won the event last year.
The Australian Open begins Jan. 16.
