Fine day for the qualifiers at Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship

Dubai: Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens led a clutter of qualifiers into the second round on the opening day of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship that got under way at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Sunday.

Flipkens, who landed in Dubai with just her tennis equipment after the airline misplaced her luggage from Heathrow, was the last of four qualifiers who have advanced to the next stage of this week-long competition for the women.

Flipkens won 6-3, 6-4 against Swiss girl Timea Bacsinszky on Court 3, after Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova had sent packing one of the dozen Russians Vera Dushevina in three sets 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 on the same court.

German Anna-Lena Groenefeld was the third qualifier through to the next round with a fighting 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 win against Russia's Alisa Kleybanova and 2009 Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge winner Regina Kulikova became the fourth qualifier to advance while causing the biggest upset of the day with her 6-3, 6-0 one-sided win against Russian glamour girl Maria Kirilenko.

Flipkens will meet one of two Russians in her second round after Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva play today. "For the moment I just want to rest and recover after what I have gone through coming to Dubai," Flipkens told Gulf News.

Other big winners on the opening day included Italian Francesca Schiavone with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Romanian youngster Sorana Cirstea, while Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova dumped Dubai resident Katarina Srebotnik 6-2, 6-1. Schiavone had things going her way after she won the first set 6-2. But her Romanian opponent fought back in the second to lead 5-4, only to see the gutsy Italian draw in deep and take the set 7-5.

"I had my chances, but I did not take them. It's always like this when things are evenly balanced between players. One has to fight for every point and that is what we did. Unluckily only one can win," Schiavone shrugged.

Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova also scaled through to the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win against qualifier Vesna Manasieva of Russia to set a meeting against fellow countrywoman, fifth seed and former Dubai champion, Elena Dementieva.

Germany's Sabine Lisicki also set up a mouth-watering clash to test defending champion Venus Williams with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Taipei's Yung-Jan Chan, while Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-1 to advance to a clash against fourth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Results:

Francesca Schiavone bt Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 7-5; Sabine Lisicki bt Yung-Jan Chan 6-1, 6-4; Regina Kulikova bt Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-0; Anna-Lena Groenefeld bt Alisa Kleybanova 1-6, 7-5, 6-2; Anastasija Sevastova bt Vera Dushevina 6-2, 5-7, 7-5; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bt Katarina Srebotnik 6-2, 6-1; Kirsten Flipkens bt Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-4.