Kirilenko advances at Slovenia Open

PORTOROZ, Slovenia, July 24 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Maria Kirilenko cruised to a straight sets victory against Italy's Roberta Vinci in the second round of the Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Portoroz. The scores were 6-1, 6-2. The Russian needed just 77 minutes to advance to a quarterfinal match against No. 8 seed Sara Errani of Italy, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over compatriot Mara Santangelo. Kirilenko capitalized on 6 of 15 break points and five double faults by Vinci. Second-seeded Katarina Srebotnik fell flat while playing before a crowd in her home nation and was beaten 6-4, 6-2 by Germany's Julia Goerges. Also winning Thursday was Elena Bovina of Russia, who topped France's Camille Pin 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) in a battle of non-seeds. Pin rebounded to force the deciding third set. Friday's other quarterfinal matches are Bovina against... [read full story]