Mary Pierce entered the second round of WTA Indian Open, beating Jie Zheng of China 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 in a tough first round match at the Fateh Maidan Tennis Complex, in Hyderabad, on Tuesday night.
However, top seed Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina and third seed Elena Likhovtseva of Russia crashed out of the tournament, losing in the first round itself.
Pierce, seeded No. 4, came back strongly after losing the second set tamely. The Frenchwoman, who saw her ranking slide rapidly following a serious injury after winning the French Open in 2000, drew on all her experience in the third set to overcome the 182nd-ranked Zheng.
Akiko Morigami of Japan, ranked 128th in the world, caused the biggest upset, defeating Clarisa Fernandez, ranked 29th, 6-2, 6-4 to enter the second round of $140,000 tournament.
Fernandez, a semi-finalist at the French Open, could not recover from an erratic start and lost the first set in quick time. She displayed some resistance in the second set but Morigami maintained a level of consistency to take the set and match.
Tzipora Obziler of Israel, ranked 130th, shocked Likhovtseva, winning 6-2, 6-3.
In other matches, Maria Kirilenko of Russia defeated compatriot Anasatassia Rodionova 6-4, 6-3 while Claudine Schaul of Luxemburg beat Renata Voracova of Czechoslovakia 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the next round.
