Petrova downs Marino in Strasbourg
Nadia Petrova shrugged off two consecutive first-round defeats to get back to winning ways against Rebecca Marino in the Internationaux Strasbourg.
The 28-year-old, beaten by Vania King and Ana Ivanovic in Madrid and Rome respectively, was too strong for her world number 62 opponent, winning 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 in one hour and 23 minutes.
Sixth seed Daniela Hantuchova from Slovakia also safely progressed with a 6-3 6-4 win over Sweden's Johanna Larsson, and fifth seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko beat Kristina Barrois of Germany 6-2 6-3.
Jelena Dokic needed 48 minutes to brush aside Simona Halep of Romania 6-2 6-1, while there were also first round wins for Bojana Jovanovski, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Mathilde Johansson and Laura Pous-Tio.