MOSCOW, October 15 (R-Sport) – Kremlin Cup sixth seed Carla Suarez Navarro eased into the second round of the tennis tournament in Moscow on Tuesday with a straight-sets win over local player Vera Dushevina.
Suarez Navarro, ranked 17th in the world, disposed of Dushevina 6-4, 6-3 to set up a second-round meeting with Russia's Alisa Kleybanova, who is playing at home for the first time since her return to the WTA Tour following treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Suarez Navarro's only previous visit to the Kremlin Cup ended with a qualifying loss in 2008, although she played at the same arena – the Olimpiisky Sports Complex – for Spain in a Fed Cup tie last year.
Elsewhere in first-round action Tuesday, Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova wrapped up a 7-5, 6-2 win over Russian wildcard Ksenia Pervak, who recently switched allegiances from Kazakhstan.
Rybarikova will meet Romania's Simona Halep in the second round.
The Kremlin Cup is a hard-court WTA Premier event with a $795,000 prize fund.
