The WTA claycourt stop in Palermo lost its top seed Tuesday when Italy's own Silvia Farina Elia retired trailing 6-7(3), 0-2 against Bulgarian Tszvetana Pironkova, citing a shoulder injury.
Another seeded loser on the day was No. 8 Katerina Srebotnik, bowing to Argentina's Mariana Diaz-Oliva in straight sets.
Seeded winners advancing were (2)
Flavia Pennetta (d. Ant. Serra Zanetti), (3)
Anabel Medina Garrigues (d. Chaladkova), (4)
Nuria Llagostera Vives (d. A.Bonderenko, bagel in the second), (5) Klara Koukalova (d. (Q) Yakimova), and (6)
Marta Domachowska (d. Pastikova).
Other unseeded winners were Colombia's
Catalina Castano (d. (Q) Oprandi), Estonian qualifier
Maret Ani (d. (Q) Vesnina), Italian wildcard
Nathalie Vierin (d. Sfar), Swiss
Emmanuelle Gagliardi (d. (LL) Flipkens in three), German lucky loser
Martina Muller (d. Safarova from a set down), Spain's
Conchita Martinez Granados (d. Sanchez Lorenzo in three), and Israel's
Anna Smashnova (d. Parra Santonja).
On Wednesday's schedule are Medina Garrigues vs. Martinez Granados, Pironkova vs. Smashnova, Vinci vs. Kostanic, and Vierin vs. Domachowska.
