SEOUL — Third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova recovered from a set down to secure a second-round berth in the Seoul WTA tournament that got underway in the South Korean capital Monday. The Russian dropped the first set of her first-round match but rallied to see off Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in just under one and three-quarter hours. Fifth-seeded Ukranian Elina Svitolina also seemed set for victory after cancelling out a first-set deficit, but Spain's Lara Arruabarrena proved too strong and ran out the eventual winner 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Julia Goerges needed just two sets to secure a 6-3, 7-5 victory in her first-round tie, despite a spirited performance from Misaki Doi. “She stepped up her game in the second set, and it was a good win in the end,” the German sixth seed said of her Japanese opponent. “I got a bit sloppy at one point, but managed to stay in there and find my strokes,” Goerges said. It was a mixed day for the home players, with Han Sung-hee coming back strongly in the second set but still bowing out to Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru who moved into the second round 6-0, 7-6 (7-0). But Lee Ye-ra delighted the home crowd with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Russia's Daria Gavrilova. Hsieh claims wins In Guangzhou, reigning WTA Guangzhou Open champion and Taiwan's first Grand Slam winner Hsieh Su-wei claimed victory in both her singles and doubles first round matches Monday, the opening day of this year's tournament. Sixth-seeded Hsieh, from Taiwan, defeated Argentina's Paula Ormaechea 6-1, 6-2 in 56 minutes in her singles match in the morning. In the afternoon Hsieh then won her first round doubles match with her partner, China's Peng Shuai. The top seeds and Wimbledon champions overcame Maria Fernanda Alvarez Teran of Bolivia and Keri Wong of the United States 6-3, 6-3. Hsieh will face China's Zhang Shuai in the second round of the singles tournament, after the wildcard entry defeated Russia's Olga Puchkova in their first round tie 6-0, 7-6 (7-1). Briton Johanna Konta won her first round match against Richel Hogenkamp from Holland, 6-3, 6-2, while Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic beat Sweden's Johanna Larsson 6-4, 6-3. Galina Voskoboeva from Kazakhstan and Monica Puig from Puerto Rico will face off in the second round after both players won their first round games. Vania King of the US also booked her place in the second round after a hard fought 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over South African Chanelle Scheepers, a former winner in 2011. Safarova wins 5th title Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic won her fifth WTA title when she edged New Zealand's Marina Erakovic 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Bell Challenge in Quebec City Sunday. Third seed Safarova's serve proved a decisive weapon as the 26-year-old left-hander ended a five-year victory drought and improved her record in WTA finals to 5-7. Sixth seed Erakovic had her chances but the Croatian-born New Zealander squandered five break points. Safarova broke Erakovic four times on the indoor carpet. Safarova not only landed more of her first serves in play than Erakovic, but also had a higher winning percentage when she did. Cilic handed 9-month doping ban Croatia's Marin Cilic has been handed a nine-month doping ban, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced Monday. The 24-year-old, currently ranked 24th in the world, has had the ban back-dated to May 1 this year, meaning he will be able to return to action on Feb. 1, 2014. Cilic's doping violation came when he tested positive for the stimulant nikethamide at the Munich Open in May. “The International Tennis Federation announced today that Marin Cilic has been found to have committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation under Article 2.1 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program (presence of a Prohibited Substance in a Player's Sample),” a statement confirmed. Cilic, a former number nine and 2010 Australian Open semifinalist, provided a urine sample during the Munich event and a WADA-accredited laboratory in Montreal found it to contain nikethamide, which is banned under section S6 (Stimulants) of the 2013 WADA List of Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods. The Croatian claimed the nikethamide had entered his system through his ingestion of Coramine glucose tablets that had been purchased on his behalf from a pharmacy. — Agencies
