Jovanovski claims first-round upset at Guangzhou

GUANGZHOU, China, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Bojana Jovanovski, coming off a tournament win, opened her draw at the Guangzhou Open in China with an upset Tuesday of No. 1-seed Sorana Cirstea.

Jovanovski took a three-set decision Saturday in the finals of the Tashkent Open. She rolled past Cirstea 6-2, 6-1 in just more than an hour in extending her winning streak.

Jovanovski had three breaks in each set and ended up winning 59 percent of the points off Cirstea's serve.

It was one of three upsets Tuesday as the first round was completed. Vesna Dolonc took out fifth-seeded Urszula Radwanska 7-5, 6-2 with seven breaks and Timea Babos edged No. 7-seeded Varvara Lepchenko 7-6 (10-8), 7-5.

No. 2-seeded Alize Cornet breezed past Olga Govortsova, who lost to Jovanovski in the Tashkent final, 6-3, 6-1, matching Dolonc's seven breaks; third-seeded Laura Robson, last year's Guangzhou runner-up, defeated Jovana Jaksic 6-2, 6-4; and No. 4-seeded Peng Shuai beat Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-4.

Also advancing to the second round were Zheng Saisai, who slipped past Luksika Kumkhum 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 7-5; Zheng Jie, who defeated Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1, 6-4; and Yvonne Meusburger, who was a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Lesia Tsurenko.