Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova survives early scare in Korea Open

Third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova recovered from a set down to secure a second-round berth in the Seoul WTA tournament that got underway in the South Korean capital on Monday.

The Russian dropped the first set of her first-round match but rallied to see off Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in just under one and three-quarter hours.

Fifth-seeded Ukranian Elina Svitolina also seemed set for victory after cancelling out a first-set deficit, but Spain's Lara Arruabarrena proved too strong and ran out the eventual winner 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

Julia Goerges needed just two sets to secure a 6-3, 7-5 victory in her first-round tie, despite a spirited performance from Misaki Doi.

"She stepped up her game in the second set, and it was a good win in the end," the German sixth seed said of her Japanese opponent.

"I got a bit sloppy at one point, but managed to stay in there and find my strokes," Goerges said.

It was a mixed day for the home players, with Han Sung-Hee coming back strongly in the second set but still bowing out to Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru who moved into the second round 6-0, 7-6 (7/0).

But Lee Ye-Ra delighted the home crowd with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Russia's Daria Gavrilova.

"I was really nervous at the beginning," said Lee, who lost the first three games of the match.

"But then I found my rhythm and started to relax and play well," she said.