Top seeds move on in Kremlin Cup

MOSCOW – Top-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia and defending champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia advanced to the second round of the Kremlin Cup on Tuesday.

Zvonareva beat Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania, 6-2, 6-2, while Jankovic ousted Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.

In the men’s tournament, Wayne Odesnik of the United States rallied to upset second-seeded Victor Hanescu of Romania, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, while fellow American Robby Ginepri outlasted fourth-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia, 6-3, 6-7 (9), 7-6 (1).

The seventh-ranked Zvonareva, runner-up last year, broke Olaru two times in each set.

“Frankly speaking, it was a tough match,” Zvonareva said. “It’s my first tournament indoors and on a different surface. Olaru is young but a very tough opponent, and I think, my experience helped me to win today.”

The second-seeded Jankovic took the first set after Shvedova netted twice to give her the 10th game. Shvedova, who eliminated Jankovic in the second round of the US Open in September, had an early break in the second before the Serb leveled at 4-4, capitalizing on her opponent’s sloppy play.                                       (AP)