At the matches played at the Olympic tennis centre in Tashkent Vesnina ended the hopes of Ukraine’s Lesya Tsurenko 6-3, 6-2 . while Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland outclassed local Wild card Alina Abdurakhimova 6-3, 6-1; Russian Eveniya Rodina faced anxious moments overcoming country mate Arina Rodionova winning 7-6 (3), 6-3, , Ekaterina Ivanova also of Russia had a relatively easy outing putting out Britian’s Katie O’Brian 7-5, 6-1.

Meanwhile, in the final qualifying round Erini Georgatou (Greece), Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine), Nadejda Guskova (Russia) and Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) made it to the main draw of the tournament.

The day which witnessed four main draw matches turn out to be straight set wins. World No 121 Stefanie Voegele ended the campaign of Uzbek wild card entry Alina Abdurakhimova in just 51 minutes .

Fourth seeded Elena Vesnina who showed how big the difference was between a Top-100 and Top-200 player when she put out Lesya Tsurenko.

Ranked 72 in the world, Elena, did well to exploit her opponents weak second serve to prove her superiority. Lesya, who ranks 105 places below Elena could manage to win eight of the 29 points she contested on second serve. Lesya, likewise, had her opportunities but could win only half the break points (5/10) she forced on Elena.

Speaking after the match Elena said “The first match of any tournament is always difficult and I’m happy to have won it rather easily.

Elena’s country mates Evgeniya Rodina and Ekaterina Ivanova had a comparatively tougher opening. Evgeniya pitted against another Russian Arina Rodionova, ranked No 181 in the world played out the longest match of the day while registering a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory.

Scratch pair of Alexandra Dulgheru (Romania)/ Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) scored the first upset of the event in the doubles main draw knocking out No 3 seeds local favourite Akgul Amanmuradova and Belarus’ Darya Kustova . Dulgheru/ Rybarikova shocked the third seeded pair 7-5, 7-6 (13). in a thrilling encounter.

Results

Main Draw: Singles Rd 1: Stefanie Voegele (Sui) bt WC-Alina Abdurakhimova (Uzb) 6-3, 6-1; 4-Elena Vesnina (Rus) bt Lesya Tsurenko (Ukr) 6-3, 6-2; Eveniya Rodina (Rus) bt Arina Rodionova 7-6 (3), 6-3; Ekaterina Ivanova (Rus) bt Katie O’Brian (GBR) 7-5, 6-1

Doubles Rd 1: Alexandra Dulgheru (Rou)/ Magdalena Rybarikova (Svk) b 3-Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb)/ Darya Kustova (Blr) 5-7, 7-6 (13)

Qualifying, Rd 2: 3-Eirini Georgatou (Gre) bt 7-Elena Kulikova (Rus) 6-4, 7-6; 2-Yuliana Fedak (Ukr) bt 6-Kseina Palkina (Kgz) 6-3, 2-6, 6-0; Nadeja Guskova (Rus) bt 8-Tatiana Poutchek (Blr) 6-3, 5-6, 6-4; 5-Zarina Diyas (Kaz) bt Scarlett Werner (Ger) 6-3, 6-2;