MOSCOW, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Eighth-seed Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic helped open the 2012 Kremlin Cup Monday with a win over Russian wild card Margarita Gasparyan.
Safarova dropped the middle set but went on to outlast Gasparyan 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 indoors at Olympic Stadium in Moscow.
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Her next opponent will be fellow Czech Klara Zakopalova, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Romanian Alexandra Cadantu.
Former Moscow champion Francesca Schiavone, however, was among the Day 1 casualties, falling to Poland's Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 6-1.
Monday's other match saw Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson dispatch Serb Bojana Jovanovski 6-2, 6-4.
