Cornet Advances as First Round Begins in Linz

The first three main draw matches at the Generali Ladies Linz took the courts on Monday, with no surprises as one Top 20 player and a pair of Top 30 players moved safely through to the second round.
 
World No.21 Katarina Srebotnik was the first to advance, notching a 61 75 win over Tamarine Tanasugarn. World No.28 Kaia Kanepi followed the Slovenian into the second round but not after a first set tussle, eventually rolling to a 64 60 win over wildcard Melanie Klaffner. At No.258 in the world, Klaffner is Austria's fifth-highest ranked player; the home nation has three players in the Top 100, namely Sybille Bammer, Tamira Paszek and Yvonne Meusburger (Patricia Mayr is their fourth-highest, currently ranked No.124).
 
In the last first round match of the day, No.8 seed Alizé Cornet took out Zheng Jie in an hour and 18 minutes, 63 62. She snapped a dubious losing streak with the victory, having lost in the first round in her last three tournaments.
 
One of the world's greatest teams over the last few years, Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur, was in first round doubles action, taking out Polish duo Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska, 62 63. Raymond and Stosur have won two Grand Slam titles together - the 2005 US Open and 2006 French Open - and have been one of the most dangerous teams this year as well, making the Wimbledon and US Open finals (finishing runner-up both times). They are unseeded this week.
 
Ekaterina Makarova, Olga Savchuk, Petra Kvitova and Nuria Llagostera Vives all earned main draw berths with wins in the final round of qualifying.

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