Pattaya City, Thailand (SportsNetwork.com) – Top seed Peng Shuai was an easy
first-round winner Tuesday at the Thailand Open.
The Chinese eased past Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 6-2 at this hardcourt
event.
Peng will face Japan’s Misaki Doi on Wednesday.
A mild Day 2 upset occurred when Slovakian veteran Daniela Hantuchova took out
third-seeded Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.
In other action involving seeds, No. 4 Japanese Kurumi Nara handled Thai wild
card Nicha Lertpitaksinchai 6-2, 6-1, No. 6 Aussie Jarmila Gajdosova grounded
Japanese qualifier Misa Eguchi 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) and No. 8 Chinese Zhang Shuai
drilled Croat Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-0.
Second seed Elina Svitolina pulled out of the draw and was replaced by
lucky loser and fellow Ukrainian Yuliya Beygelzimer, who then dismissed 44-
year-old Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.
Several other women notched opening-round wins, including New Zealand’s Marina
Erakovic, Croat Ajla Tomljanovic and the aforementioned Doi, who dismissed 37-
year-old wild card, long-time Thai crowd favorite and two-time tournament
runner-up Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6 (7-2), 6-0.
The 2015 Pattaya City titlist will claim $43,000.
