Benesova Survives Vesnina in Forest Hills First Round

The only seed in action on Day 1 of the Forest Hills Tennis Classic made it through, although it was by far the most competitive match of the day. Iveta Benesova drew one of the toughest first round opponents but fought hard to reach the quarterfinals.
 
Benesova, the No.3 seed and a former finalist at the Tier IV event, was pushed to the limits for over two and a half hours by Elena Vesnina on Tuesday afternoon but survived, 61 67(5) 75. Vesnina battled back to win the second set after suffering a first set blowout, and even had a chance to serve for the match at 5-4 in the third set. But Benesova, who was a runner-up to Elena Likhovtseva in the inaugural year of this tournament in 2004, toughed it out.
 
Three other first round matches were played as well. Vera Dushevina beat Sofia Arvidsson in an hour and one minute, 62 62; Martina Müller beat Petra Cetkovska in an hour and 12 minutes, 62 63; and Ekaterina Makarova beat wildcard Gail Brodsky in an hour and 33 minutes, 75 62.
 
The other four first round matches will all take place on Wednesday, pitting No.1 seed Pauline Parmentier against Peng Shuai, No.2 seed Marina Erakovic against Jamea Jackson, No.4 seed Carla Suárez Navarro against Timea Bacsinszky and unseeded players Lucie Safarova and Akgul Amanmuradova against each other. Safarova won this title in 2005.

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