Home girl Srebotnik opens Slovenia Open with two-set victory

PORTOROZ, Slovenia -- Two-time finalist Katarina Srebotnik began another bid to win her hometown Slovenia Open by defeating Sanda Mamic of Croatia 6-2, 6-2 in the first round on Tuesday.

Srebotnik reached the inaugural final in 2005, losing to Klara Zakopalova, and again last year, falling to Tatiana Golovin. In 2006, she was the top seed but was upset in the first round.

She spent last week practicing in Portoroz and getting over the flu, and showed no signs of illness in beating Mamic. Next up will be Julia Goerges of Germany, who beat Srebotnik in the first round of Wimbledon. If Srebotnik survives that, she could face a rematch with Zakopalova in the quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia made a strong start in brushing aside 213th-ranked Nika Ozegovic 6-1, 6-1, making up for losing to the Croatian at Estoril last year. Kirilenko will face Roberta Vinci after she beat fellow Italian Alberta Brianti 6-1, 6-3.

No. 8-seeded Sara Errani beat Maria Elena Camerin 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 in the first matchup of the Italians, while the only seed to lose was No. 6 Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, upset by Camille Pin of France 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in 2 hours, 34 minutes.

Other first-round winners included Karolina Sprem of Croatia, Mara Santangelo of Italy, and Elena Bovina of Russia.