Hobart, Australia (My Sportsbook) - Second seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland was a first-round loser to Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-2, 6-4, at the Moorilla Hobart International, a warm-up for the Australian Open. The 30-year-old Schnyder, making her fourth appearance in Hobart, but first since 2000, was the 1998 champion here as a No. 2 seed. There was another upset on Sunday, the first day of competition. Czech Iveta Benesova defeated eighth seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, 7-5, 7-5. Also Sunday, seventh seed Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine got past Romania's Monica Niculescu, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova topped the Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, and Czech Petra Kvitova dominated Australian wild card Sally Peers, 6-0, 6-0. Italian Flavia Pennetta is the top seed in the tournament and will face Israeli Shahar Peer in the first round. The winner of this event will capture $220,000. |
