German fifth-seed Angelique Kerber beat Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(5), 7-5 in the first round of the Apia International Sydney tennis tournament here Monday.
The battle between the pair lasted about two hours with the German scoring a victory to move into the second round. The 25-year-old Kerber will next play Estonian Kaia Kanepi for a place in the quarterfinals at the Sydney Olympic Park, reports Xinhua.
In other matches, Czech player Lucie Safarova beat former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands ousted Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-3.