Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova and Gilles Muller of Luxembourg steamed into round two of the Kremlin Cup on Tuesday with straight-sets wins.
Sixth-seeded Kuznetsova breezed past French qualifier Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-3 to set up a meeting with Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova, who advanced after her opponent Petra Martic retired with a foot injury.
The 50th-ranked Muller, seeded seventh in Moscow, fired 19 aces as he battled past Russian qualifier Konstantin Kravchuk 7-6, 6-4.
Muller, whose best showing is a 2008 quarterfinal appearance at the U.S. Open, plays 49th-ranked German Philipp Kohlschreiber in round two.
In other women’s play, Russian outsider Ksenia Pervak set up a round-two meeting with French third seed Marion Bartoli after fighting to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan.
Agnieszka Radwanska, the No. 2 seed who had a bye into the second round, plays Czech world No. 27 Lucie Safarova, who came back from a set down to beat lucky loser Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Safarova’s compatriot Klara Zakopalova blazed past qualifier Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1.
In the men’s draw, the world 133, Jeremy Chardy of France, upset the 54th-ranked Potito Starace of Italy in a drawn out contest that ended 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.
Chardy earns a round-two encounter with third seed and world No. 18 Alexandr Dolgoprudov of Ukraine.
The men’s top seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia plays Igor Kunitsyn in round two after the Russian fought off wild card Andrey Kuznetsov 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
