Kuznetsova cruises in Stuttgart

Stuttgart:

Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova cruised past Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round of the Porsche Grand Prix on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Kuznetsova won the French Open last year for her second Grand Slam title and is using the Stuttgart event to warm up for the defense of that crown.

The Russian brought her career record against Srebotnik to 3-2. Srebotnik was once No. 20 in the world before dropping to No. 385. She was coming back after missing eight months of last season with various injuries and has been eliminated in the first round of all five of her tournaments this year.

In another first-round match, fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Radwanska led 4-1 before Ivanovic pulled even to force the tiebreaker. But the less error-prone Pole won it and then also took the second. Ivanovic has dropped to No. 57 in less than two years since winning the French Open.

Other winners included Li Na of China, Shahar Peer of Israel, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, and Anna Lapushchenkova of Russia, who enjoyed her first win on the main tour since January 2008.