Zvonareva cruises through in Auckland

Top seed Vera Zvonareva made a confident start to her bid for a first singles title in 18 months as she beat New Zealand wildcard Sacha Jones 6-0 6-1 in the first round of the Auckland Classic on Tuesday.
 
The Russian, who won the most recent of her five WTA Tour titles in July 2006, made light of a tricky wind and was far too good for Jones as she romped into round two.
 
Zvonareva, runner-up in Auckland in each of the past two years, came into the tournament full of confidence after finishing 2007 as the world number 22, her highest year-end ranking since 2004.
 
And the 17-year-old Jones was thoroughly outclassed as Zvonareva made an impressive start to set up a clash with Swede Sofia Arvidsson.
 
"It was a bit windy out there, as usual, but it was a good start to the year for me," Zvonareva said.
 
"I could see some good things in her game. She has a good future if she keeps training and playing at this level."
 
Second seed Maria Kirilenko joined her compatriot in round two with a hard-fought 6-2 2-6 6-3 victory over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
 
However, there was a surprise defeat for fourth seed Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands as she went down 7-5 6-7 6-2 to Sara Errani of Italy, the world number 161.
 
Seventh seed Eleni Daniilidou of Greece ousted British qualifier Elena Baltacha 6-1 6-2.
 
French 20-year-old Aravane Rezai and compatriot Camille Pin were among other first-round winners on Tuesday.