Safarova downs Peng

Luxemborg - Fifth-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic has defeated Peng Shuai of China 7-5, 6-4 on Monday to move into the second round of the Luxembourg Open.

Safarova converted her only break point in the first set and added two more breaks in the second to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 32 minutes.

In another first-round match, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium beat Heather Watson of Britain 6-0, 5-7, 6-2, breaking her opponent seven times even though the Briton landed 81 percent of her first serves compared to just 49 percent for Wickmayer.

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, No. 2 Sloane Stephens of the United States and third-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany all open their campaign on Tuesday.

Results from first day on Monday of the WTA Luxembourg tournament (x denotes seeding):

First round:

Monica Niculescu (ROM) bt Alexandra Cadantu (ROM) 7-5, 6-4

Bojana Jovanovski (SRB x8) bt Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 6-4, 6-3

Lucie Safarova (CZE x5) bt Shuai Peng (CHN) 7-5, 6-4

Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 6-0, 5-7, 6-2