Mon Apr 7 21:01:30 2008

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Mauresmo breezes to round two at Bausch & Lomb

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Amelia Island, FL (Sports Network) - France's Amelie Mauresmo cruised into the second round at the at the $600,000 Bausch & Lomb Championships on Monday.

The former world No. 1 Mauresmo, who titled here in 2001, topped Ukrainian Olga Savchuk, 6-0, 7-5. The 28-year-old Mauresmo beat Savchuk for the second time this year, also in a season-opening event in Gold Coast, Australia.

Ninth-seeded Austrian Sybille Bammer was also a first-round winner. The lefthanded Bammer handled Belarusian wild card Anna Orlik 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) at Amelia Island Plantation. Up next for the gritty Austrian will be France's Alize Cornet, an easy 6-2, 6-1 victor against Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek.

Thirteenth-seeded Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano routed Ukrainian qualifier Yuliana Fedak 6-2, 6-1, while 15th-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues moved on with a 6-4, 6-3 decision against Argentine Maria Emilia Salerni and veteran American Jill Craybas snuck past Uzbekistanian Akgul Amanmuradova 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4).

American Meghann Shaughnessy was knocked out by Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-2, 6-2 on Day 1 here.

Additional opening-round wins came for Czechs Lucie Safarova and qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis, Hungarian qualifier Melinda Czink, Russian Ekaterina Makarova, Japanese qualifier Ayumi Morita and Belarusian Olga Govortsova.

This week's top-eight seeds, including top-seeded Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, received byes into the second round. Sharapova will open her stay here against Zahlavova Strycova Tuesday night.

Some other top names on hand this week are Russian Anna Chakvetadze, Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova and American favorite Lindsay Davenport, who captured this tournament in 1997, 2004 and 2005.

France's Tatiana Golovin defeated 2006 titlist Nadia Petrova of Russia in last year's Amelia Island finale, but neither woman is playing here this year.

The 2008 Bausch & Lomb champion will pocket $95,500.