MOSCOW – Fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia easily advanced to the second round of the Kremlin Cup, beating her compatriot, teenager Yana Buchina, 6-2, 6-0, on Monday.
In the men’s first round, third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, also of Russia, defeated Horacio Zeballos of Argentin,a 6-1, 7-6 (5).
The 17th-ranked Petrova had little trouble against Buchina, runner-up at the junior US Open, who was playing in her first WTA Tour event courtesy of a wild card. Petrova, runner-up in 2006, broke Buchina twice in the first set and closed out the match in just 48 minutes.
“The match was so short and she (Buchina) was so nervous that it wasn’t going her way,” said Petrova.
In the next round Petrova will face Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine, who beat the 2006 champion Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4, 6-3.
Later, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain beat seventh-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-2. (AP)