BEIJING - Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak advanced to the second round of the China Open on Tuesday with a three-set victory over Virginie Razzano of France.
Wozniak, of Blainville, Que., lost a tiebreaker in the opening set before coming back for a 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-4 win.
Tuesday was supposed to be a showcase for Chinese women, but it didn't work out that way. Four of the five Chinese women entered in the tournament lost their first-round matches. The last hope was Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie but her late match with sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland was rained out.
Francesca Schiavone of Italy beat Li Na 6-1, 7-6 (4); Ai Sugiyama of Japan downed Yan Zi 6-3, 6-4; Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia defeated Peng Shuai 7-5, 6-4; and Zhang Shuai dropped a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7) decision to Alize Cornet of France.
Defending champion Agnes Szavay of Hungary defeated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3.
Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic is scheduled to play her first match Wednesday while No. 2 Ana Ivanovic, also of Serbia, is set to open Thursday. The draw also features two others in the top 10 -- Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva.
The China Open is a men's and women's event being played at the Beijing Tennis Center. It moves next year to the tennis venue built for the recent Beijing Olympics. The ATP and WTA tournaments are being played together to make up for time lost from the schedule during the Beijing Olympics.
In the men's draw, Tommy Robredo and Juan Carlos Ferrero had winning starts. Robredo defeated Spanish countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-5 in the first round while Ferrero, also of Spain, beat Alexandre Kudryavtsev of Russia 6-4, 6-3.
Top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain and No. 2 Andy Roddick play first-round matches Thursday. Both were given extra rest following Spain's victory over the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals in Madrid last week.
"When you are young and you see a lot of people playing tennis and you can practise with them, your level goes up quickly," said Robredo, who was left off the Spanish Davis Cup team for the semifinal. "This is helping Spanish tennis."
Added Ferrero: "In the last few years we have improved on hard courts, also on grass. So we can play anywhere now and that is one of the keys to having a lot of players in the top 100."
Robredo was the runner-up in Beijing a year ago, losing the final to Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Gonzalez is back this year and seeded No. 3.
Six Spaniards started in the first round of the 32-player draw, a strong turnout even without top-ranked Rafael Nadal.
