Safarova advances at Luxembourg in straight sets

LUXEMBOURG, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Fifth-seeded Lucie Safarova was among four straight-set winners in first-round play Monday at the Luxembourg Open WTA tennis tournament.

Safarova beat Peng Shuai 7-5, 6-4 by winning about three-quarters of the points on serve. She dropped five points in six games serving in the first set, finally cashing in the only break point for either player.

She lost 10 points while serving in the second set and dropped her serve once but still advanced.

No. 8-seeded Bojana Jovanovski won for the 15th time in her last 17 matches with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Francesca Schiavone. Jovanovski won 50 percent (24-of-48) of the points when Schiavone served.

Also Monday Monica Niculescu defeated Alexandra Cadantu 7-5, 6-4 with six breaks and Annika Beck completed Monday's schedule with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Tsvetana Pironkova, losing 12 points over eight games serving.

The formal name of the tournament is the BGL PBNP Paribas Luxembourg Open.