MOSCOW, October 14 (R-Sport) - Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova had fight to secure a place in the second round of the Kremlin Cup on Monday, beating Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets.
Former French Open champion Kuznetsova, seeded eighth, had repeated problems holding serve and was broken three times on her way to a 7-5, 6-2 win against a player who, at No. 68, is ranked 45 places lower.
Kuznetsova said she had struggled for much of the match with the lighting at the Olimpiisky Sports Complex.
"Sometimes, you just lift up your head and you can't see anything," she said. "It causes problems on the smash, that's for sure."
Kuznetsova, a 2007 semifinalist in the Russian capital, will go on to play either Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva or a qualifier in the second round, and could meet top seed Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals.
Earlier in the day, France's Alize Cornet defeated Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in their first-round match.
The joint ATP/WTA Kremlin Cup is played on hard courts with a prize fund of $795,000 for the women's event.
