Wickmayer moves to Hobart second round

HOBART, Australia, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- No. 1-seeded Yanina Wickmayer edged into the second round of the Moorilla Hobart International with a tight win in the Australian tennis tournament.

Wickmayer got past Marina Erakovic 7-5, 6-4 with four service breaks. Three of the breaks came in the first set, when Wickmayer dropped serve twice. She took two-thirds of the points serving in the second set to advance.

Fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber stopped Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-4, countering three breaks with six of her own in nine receiving games. Defending champion Jarmila Gajdosova also made the second round, taking out Ayumi Morita 6-3, 6-4.

Tsvetana Pironkova claimed a 7-6 (12-10), 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) decision over Heather Watson in a match that took nearly 3 hours. Watson won more points (115-112) and had more breaks (6-4) but Pironkova squeaked through in the tiebreakers.

Casey Dellacqua beat Galina Voskoboeva 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; Bethanie Mattek-Sands, last year's runner-up, eliminated Ashleigh Barty 6-2, 6-2; Sara Errani was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Johanna Larsson; and Mona Barthel topped Romina Oprandi 6-1, 6-4 in Monday's other matches.