Sania Mirza of India rallied from a break down in both sets Tuesday to beat Nicha Lertpitaksinchai of Thailand 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the first round of the Pattaya Open. Sania trailed 5-3 in both sets against the 945th-ranked Nicha. “She didn't play like she is 945. She hit like she is in the top 50,” Sania said. “It's always difficult to play with someone you don't know in the first round. But I'm happy to raise my level and pulled through.” Top seeds Vera Zvonareva of Russia and Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark both progressed to the second round with straight-sets victories. Zvonareva, a recent semifinalist at the Australian Open, had to fight hard to overcome Andreja Klepac of Slovenia 6-4, 6-3, but Wozniacki took just 67 minutes to sweep aside Chan Yung-Jan from Taiwan 6-3, 6-0. Klepac's strong groundstrokes often had Zvonareva on the defensive in a hard-hitting baseline battle. After saving a break point in the opening game the Slovenian broke to lead 2-0, but she dropped both of her next two service games when she twice double-faulted on break point. Despite that setback Klepac continued to press, and Zvonareva had to fight off two break points to hold serve for 5-3 and another two as she served out the first set. “It was a tough match,” said Zvonareva. Also, fourth-seeded Sybille Bammer of Austria, the 2007 champion, beat Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; Yuliya Beygelzimer of Ukraine beat Anastasia Rodionova of Russia 6-2, 6-2; Neuza Silva of Portugal defeated Jessica More of Australia 6-2, 6-1; Yaroslava Shedova of Kazakhstan eliminated Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-3, 6-4; and Ivana Lisjak of Croatia beat Bulgarian qualifier Sesil Karatancheva 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Murray in form Andy Murray crushed Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-2, pouncing on the veteran's mistakes to earn a first career victory at the Rotterdam Open on Tuesday. Murray's only miscue in the first-round meeting came as he held a 5-0 lead in the second set, double-faulting on a match point to let the 29-year-old Ljubcic back in at 1-5. But two games later, the Scot second seed restored order with the win which took his record on the season to 9-1, including a January title in Doha. Murray will in Thursday's second round face Italian Andreas Seppi, who knocked out Rafael Nadal here a year ago. Elsewhere, Gael Monfils, seeded fifth, won his first-round match as Swiss Stephane Bohli quit injured, 6-4, 1-0. Spain's sixth seed David Ferrer shook off a long trip from South Africa for a win over Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5. Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov lined up a possible meeting with top seed Nadal after the 17-year-old knocked Czech Tomas Berdych out 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. It's now down to Nadal to do his part when he opens on Wednesday against Italy's Simone Bolelli. Radwanska advances Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland charged into the second round of the Paris Open with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Ukraine's Oxana Lyubtsova on Tuesday. Fourth-seeded Radwanska will next face Alisa Kleybanova, a 19-year-old Russian who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open. Kleybanova defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-2, 7-6 (3). The only other seed in action, No. 5 Alize Cornet of France, cruised past qualifier Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-1, 6-3. Next up for Cornet will be former top-5 player Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, whom Cornet beat in the Australian Open third round last month. Hantuchova, twice a quarterfinalist in the Open GDF Suez, beat Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-2, 6-2. Monica Niculescu of Romania and Frenchwomen Nathalie Dechy and Emilie Loit advanced to the second round, too. Niculescu beat Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-4, 6-3, Dechy edged Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 and Loit eliminated Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4. Stepanek moves up Fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek needed three sets to beat German qualifier Dominik Meffert, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 and reach the second round of the SAP Open on Monday. Germany's Tommy Haas won twice Monday when he beat countryman Lars Poerschke, 6-1, 7-6 (8) in the first round, then stayed to play Pete Sampras in an exhibition match when James Blake was forced to withdraw due to back spasms. Tournament officials were scrambling when Blake informed them of his withdrawal less than 15 minutes before the scheduled start. Haas won the match, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 12-10. Taylor Dent beat fellow American Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 6-4 to continue his comeback from back surgery last year. In other first-round matches, Belgium's Christophe Rochus upset seventh-seeded Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 6-2, 7-6 (7); Frenchman Florent Serra beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 7-5, 6-7 (1), 6-4. Davydenko through Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the second round at the ABN Amro Monday by beating fellow Russian Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-2. The third-seeded Davydenko, who missed the Australian Open with a foot injury, needed just over an hour to dispatch Andreev. Two other Russians, Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny, also advanced by beating two Frenchmen. Tursunov beat Arnaud Clement 6-0, 6-3, while Youzhny overcame Laurent Recouderc 6-4, 6-4. Julien Benneteau of France also advanced, defeating Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 at the Ahoy stadium. Andreas Seppi of Italy also advanced beating Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7
