Sun Aug 17 18:30:44 2008

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Govortsova, Pironkova move on to second round in New Haven

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New Haven, CT (Sports Network) - Olga Govortsova and Tsvetana Pironkova were first-round winners on Sunday at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final U.S. Open tune-up.

The Belarusian Govortsova, who turns 20 next Saturday, downed 19-year-old Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-0, 6-2 in the first day of play in New Haven.

Pironkova of Bulgaria gutted out a three-set win over American Bethanie Mattek later in the day. The Minnesota native rebounded from losing a first-set tiebreak to blank Pironkova in the second set. But Pironkova returned the favor to pull out the 7-6 (7-4), 0-6, 6-0 victory.

Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova topped Hungarian Agnes Szavay in last year's hardcourt finale at the Connecticut Tennis Center.