Kudryavtseva takes first-round win in Baku

Alla Kudryavtseva dropped just one game Monday in posting a first-round victory at the Baku Cup tennis tournament in Azerbaijan. Kudryavtseva defeated Kamilla Farhad 6-1, 6-0 in just 51 minutes. Kudryavtseva won 70 percent of the points in the match and lost only seven over six service games. She lost eight games total in the second set. Farhad, a wild-card entrant, was the only Azeri in the draw. No. 3-seeded Mandy Minella beat Wang Qiang 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in a 2-hour, 45-minute battle. Minella managed four breaks in the final set, winning 60 percent of the points of Wang's serve in the set. But Aleksandra Krunic ousted fourth-seeded Andrea Hlavackova 6-1, 6-7 (11-13), 6-4 with three breaks in each. Also Monday, Tamarine Tanasugarn topped Varvara Flink 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 and Valeria Solovieva ousted Olga Savchuk 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).