Tennis: Kristina Mladenovic leads seeded women at Citi Open

Second-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France was one of five seeded players who advanced Wednesday at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

Mladenovic got past Tatjana Maria of Germany 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in a first-round match. After winning the second set, the 62nd-ranked Maria broke serve early in the third set to take a 2-1 lead. However, Mladenovic then reeled off four straight games to take control.

Another French player, fifth-seeded Oceane Dodin, also advanced but had to fight off three match points in the second set to post a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Italian veteran Sara Errani. After winning the first set, Errani served for the match at 5-4 in the second set. Errani had three match points in that game but was unable to convert.

That began a run of seven straight games won by Dodin, who held a 4-0 lead in the final set before cruising in with the victory.

Fourth-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany rallied to oust Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9).

Sixth-seeded Monica Niculescu of Romania defeated Nao Hibino of Japan 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7). Hibino served for the match at 5-4 of the third set but was unable to hold, and Niculescu eventually won on her third match-point opportunity in the tiebreaker.

No. 7 seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia knocked out Puerto Rico's Monica Puig 6-2, 6-4.

One seeded player was eliminated as No. 8 Christina McHale of the United States lost to Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 7-6 (6), 6-0. McHale fought off eight set points against her in the first set before losing it on the ninth, and Bouchard dominated the second set.

In one other early match, Sabine Lisicki of Germany ousted Valentini Grammatikopoulou of Greece 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5).