Kerber wins Nuremberg opener

Nuremburg - Top-seeded Angelique Kerber broke Marina Erakovic of New Zealand at the start of each set, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2 in her Nuremberg Cup opener on Tuesday.

Second-seeded Eugenie Bouchard swept past qualifier Anastasia Rodionova 6-0, 6-1 in 45 minutes to advance to the third round.

Sixth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan crashed out in the second round, losing 6-4, 6-3 to Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Also in the second round, Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic and Karin Knapp of Italy were winners.

Results from the WTA Nuremberg tournament on Tuesday (x denotes seeded player):

Second round
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) bt Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 6-0, 6-1
Karin Knapp (ITA) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 6-3, 6-3
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) bt Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) bt Kurumi Nara (JPN) 6-4, 6-2

First round
Angelique Kerber (GER x1) bt Marina Erakovic (NZL) 6-4, 6-2