Medina Cold Comfort as Top Seed at WTA Canberra

With the WTA stars in Sydney this week, No. 32-ranked Spaniard Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues is left to head the field in Canberra, Australia at the Richard Luton Properties Canberra International.

No. 2 seed Marion Bartoli, who won her first career title last week at Auckland, withdrew from the event citing a strained hip flexor.

Joining Medina Garrigues among the seeds are last week's Gold Coast winner Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, Israel's Shahar Peer, Italian Roberta Vinci, Colombian Catalina Castano, Poland's Marta Domachowska, Swede Sofia Arvidsson, and Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.

Wildcards went to Aussies Sophie Ferguson and Emma Laine.

Winners on the opening day Sunday in Canberra were (4) Shahar Peer (d. Sprem), (5) Roberta Vinci (d. Vento-Kabchi), Hungarian Melinda Czink (d. Ant. Serra Zanetti), Italian Tathiana Garbin (d. Perianu), German Julia Schruff (d. Panova), and Korean Yoon Jeong Cho (d. (8) Arvidsson).

Last year Serb qualifier Ana Ivanovic won the unlikely final against Hungarian lucky loser Melinda "The Fifth Element" Czink in straight sets.

Scheduled for Monday are Poutchek vs. Ferguson, Medina Garrigues vs. Gagliardi, Daniilidou vs. Shaughnessy, McDowell vs. Safarova, Hrdinova vs. Nakamura, Castano vs. Bammer, Kutuzova vs. Razzano, Rodionova vs. Domachowska, and Pironkova vs. Laine.