Amelie Mauresmo had to come from behind to advance to the second round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Monday.Mauresmo fell behind but came back to beat fellow Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-4.
With only three games played on the women's side the opening day, Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova advanced when Italy's Marion Bartoli retired while trailing 6-1 4-1, and Russia's Vera Dushevina set up a meeting with the new world number one Jelena Jankovic by beating Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 6-1 3-6 6-3.
Jankovic headlines a strong field on the women's side.
The 23-year-old Serbian overtook Serena Williams atop the rankings Monday and comes into this hardcourt event having won her last two tournaments, including a victory over Russia's Nadia Petrova in the Stuttgart final this past weekend.
Winning a third consecutive crown will be a challenge for Jankovic, as six other top-10 players are in the the draw.
Among those players is defending champion and third seed Elena Dementieva, who kept the title on home soil for the fourth time in five years with her win over Williams in last's year's final.
Russia's Anastasia Myskina won consecutive titles here in 2003 and 2004 and countrywoman Anna Chakvetadze claimed the trophy two years later.
Frenchwoman Mary Pierce interrupted the Russian reign with a win here in 2005.
Once again, there is a strong likelihood that the trophy will be hoisted by a local favourite.
In addition to Dementieva and the eighth-seeded Chakvetadze, Russia is represented by number two Dinara Safina, fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and number seven Vera Zvonareva.
Petrova, the runner-up to Chakvetadze two years ago, is also entered.
Safina, who has a first-round bye as one of the top four seeds, has been a wrecking ball since opening the year in stuttering fashion, winning 11 of her first 21 matches.
The 22-year-old has won four titles, won 42 of 48 matches and reached seven finals since the start of May.
Kuznetsova has not won a title since August 2007, but remains a serious threat at any event. The 2004 US Open champion reached the final in two of her last three events and has appeared in five title matches this season.
Zvonareva has ascended to ninth in the rankings on the strength of two titles and three runner-up performances this season.
Fourth-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic and number six Venus Williams of the United States round out the talented field.
Ivanovic won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open and subsequently became the world number one, but has won only five of 10 matches since and has not reached a semi-final.
The two-time reigning Wimbledon champion, Venus Williams' best performance in four appearances here occurred in 1998 when she reached the semi-finals.
Serena Williams has pulled out with an ankle injury.
On the men's side, play got underway on Monday with a handful of matches.
Second-seeded Russian Igor Andreev advanced when Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu retired after dropping the first set, 6-2.
Seeking his first ATP singles championship since winning here in 2005, Andreev will now face Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who rallied for a 3-6 6-1 6-4 triumph against Italy's Potito Starace.
Veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, 35, advanced with a 6-2 6-4 win over wild card Yuri Schukin of Kazakhstan and Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat Nicolas Devilder of France, 6-2 6-4, to book a potential second-round encounter with top-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
The Kremlin Cup has traditionally been an all-or-nothing event for Davydenko, but things have gone well recently.
The top-seeded Russian is seeking his third consecutive title at the $1 million hardcourt event.
Davydenko also won here in 2004, but on the two occasions he has not triumphed, he has been ousted in the first round.
The world number five and top-ranked Russian, Davydenko will attempt to avoid another first-round setback and run his winning streak here to 11 matches when he opens play against unseeded Frenchman Florent Serra.
The only other former champion in the draw is fourth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu, who will open with Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky. The Frenchman took the title in 2002 and was a runner-up to Davydenko last year.
by espnstar.com/tennis/news
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