Wozniacki advances amid rash of retirements

Charleston : Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, coming off a triumph at Ponte Vedra Beach on Sunday, held off Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova Wednesday in her Family Circle Cup opener.

Wozniacki was down a break and trailing 3-4 in the opening set, but broke back to level the frame.

The world No 2 from Denmark then held serve in a game that went to deuce three times, and broke again to pocket the set.

"She got a lot of shots back, and I just needed to find my game and find a way how to beat her, and once I did that, I won a lot of points and I won the games," Wozniacki said.

Wozniacki next plays 16th-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Michelle Larcher De Brito of Portugal.

Three players retired from their second-round matches on Wednesday, including fifth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France.

Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Ayumi Morita of Japan also retired.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal easily beat Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-0 to win his 28th straight match at the Monte Carlo Masters and advance to the third round.

The second-seeded Nadal broke serve five times in the match. The Spaniard has won five straight titles at Monte Carlo, where he hasn't lost since a third-round exit to Guillermo Coria in 2003. He missed the 2004 event because of injury.

"I expected it to be a bit tougher. I played well, I played a very solid match. No mistakes," Nadal said. "This tournament is one of my favourites."

Australian Open finalist Andy Murray lost 6-2, 6-1 to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. The third-seeded Briton dropped serve five times and failed to earn a single breakpoint chance.