Gisela Dulko, Parmentier Advance; Cetkovska Bounces Loit
A hotly-contested series of matches highlighted the first day of play at the inaugural Cachantun Cup, as three seeds took the court but only two remained standing as the first round began.
The first seed to take the court had the dubious honor of being the first to go, as Emilie Loit bowed out in straight sets to Petra Cetkovska. Loit, the No.3 seed, broke in the third game for a 2-1 lead but would lose five straight games - winning six points in that stretch - to drop the opening set, 6-2.
The story was similar in the second set as Loit went up 5-3 and even held two set points in that game, but Cetkovska hung tough, took the set to a tie-break, rallied back from a 5-1 deficit once there and fought off a third set point down 6-5 en route to taking the match, 62 76(6).
This is the second time Cetkovska has won a Tour main draw match, after a first round win at the US Open last year, where she qualified and bounced Jill Craybas before falling to Elena Dementieva. The Czech next plays the Ukraine's Mariya Koryttseva, who beat Catalina Castaño later on Monday, 76(3) 61.
The next seed to take the court, No.4 seed Pauline Parmentier, was pushed to the limit for three hours and 10 minutes but eventually got past María Emilia Salerni, 57 75 63. The games were long and grueling throughout the encounter but the closest contest came in the final game of the match, as Parmentier won a 22-point game on Salerni's serve to end it. Salerni held four points to close the final set score to 5-4, having rallied back from 5-1 down.
South America's highest-ranked player, Gisela Dulko, had the easiest time of the trio in the feature evening match, defeating wildcard Camila Silva, 64 61. Dulko, ranked No.43 in the world and the No.2 seed here behind the No.32-ranked Flavia Pennetta, let the 15-year-old Silva rally from 4-2 to 4-4 in the first set but would regain control from there. It was the first win of the season for Dulko, who went 0-2 during the Australian season, including a first round loss in Melbourne.
Other winners on Monday were Lourdes Domínguez Lino, who clinched a 62 75 win over Iveta Benesova, and Julia Schruff, who beat Maret Ani, 61 61.
Two first round doubles matches were also played, with No.3-seeded duo Jelena Kostanic Tosic and Martina Müller among the winners.
Earlier in the day the last round of qualifying was completed with Olivia Sanchez of France and Spaniards María José Martínez Sánchez, Carla Suárez Navarro and Nuria Llagostera Vives all reaching the main draw.
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