Tennis
Bartoli off to flying start
2011-04-18 20:57
Stuttgart - Former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France opened the star-studded Porsche Grand Prix tournament on Monday with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.
The eighth-seeded Bartoli faced little resistance after fighting through the first set. She raced off to a 5-0 lead in the second and wrapped up the first-round victory in 1 hour 22 minutes.
Due on court later was sixth-seeded Australian Open runner-up Li Na of China against Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, coming off back-to-back titles on hard court in Indian Wells and clay in Charleston, leads seven top 10 players at the event in the Porsche Arena.
The four top seeds - Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and Viktoria Azarenka - have first-round byes.
Results on day 1 at the Porsche Grand Prix:
Marion Bartoli (FRA x8) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 6-4, 6-1
Kristina Barrois (GER) bt Lucie Safarova (CZE) 6-1, 6-4
Na Li (CHN x6) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 6-2, 6-3