Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova Advance in Sydney, Seeds Cruise in Hobart

Medibank International

With nine of the top 10 women’s players in the world taking to the hardcourt of Sydney, the premier warm-up event to the Australian Open is a well-established tournament everyone wants to be in contention of winning.

By the time the first round of the Medibank International came to a close on Monday, though, there was already a trio of seeds that had fallen at the first hurdle.

Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, ranked No. 4 in the world, lost to Na Li in three sets 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, and qualifier Agnes Szavay of Hungary came from a set down to dump seventh seed Jelena Jankovic, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.

Vera Zvonareva, seeded eighth and ranked No. 9, was forced to retire against compatriot Elena Vesnina after just 39 minutes with the first set level at 3-3, joining Brisbane runner-up Justine Henin, who pulled out of the tournament with a left gluteal strain.

With the top two seeds, Serena Williams and Dinara Safina, given byes to the second round, that left three other seeded players in first-round action.

No. 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova had to rally from a 3-0 deficit in the third set against Alisa Kleybanova to book her place in Tuesday’s second round, while defending champion Elena Dementieva held on in a tense second set to see off Italian Francesca Schiavone, 6-2, 7-5.

The Russian will face world No. 23 Daniela Hantuchova in round two on Tuesday after the 26-year-old Slovak made surprisingly light work of No. 19 Virginie Razzano, 6-3, 6-0, in just 65 minutes.

They will be joined in the next round by Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who needed two hours and three sets to edge past 20-year-old Sabine Lisicki, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Qualifier Vera Dushevina blasted by Australian wildcard Casey Dellacqua, 6-2, 6-2, and 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm stunned No. 20 Nadia Petrova by a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 margin.

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez from Spain will be rewarded for her straight-sets victory over American Varvara Lepchenko with a second-round date against Serena Williams, while world No. 10 Agnieszka Radwanska will face second-seeded Safina in the pick of the round two matches after a comfortable 6-0, 6-4 win against Jill Craybas.

Before even playing a game, the road to the final looks remarkably simple for Williams after all three of the other seeds in the top half of the draw (Zvonareva, Wozniacki, and Jankovic) went out in the first two days of the competition. Right now, a semifinal clash with Flavia Pennetta looks like it may be her toughest match.

Auckland runner-up Pennetta took just 64 minutes to dispatch of Aussie Samantha Stosur, 6-3, 6-1, and she will now face Li on Wednesday for a place in the quarterfinals.

In the final two matches from the first round, world No. 27 Aravane Rezai fought back from a set down to beat Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2, and Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova knocked out lucky loser Timea Bacsinszky, 7-6 (2), 6-1.

Rezai will meet qualifier Agnes Szavay in the second round, while Cibulkova will square off against Kuznetsova.

Moorilla Hobart International

In Hobart, there were few surprises in round one as all eight seeds secured their passage into the second round.

Top-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues defeated Iveta Benesova, 7-5, 6-3, and Shahar Peer stormed past Australian wild card Olivia Rogowska in straight sets, three-and-two.

No. 3 seed Kateryna Bondarenko was pushed to breaking point against Lucie Safarova before the 22-year-old Czech was forced to retire in the third set, while fourth and fifth seeds Alona Bondarenko and Carla Suarez Navarro advanced to round two with comfortable wins over Sybillie Bammer and Yaroslava Shvedova respectively.

No. 6 seed Aleksandra Wozniak took just over an hour to see off Magdelena Rybarikova, 6-3, 6-1; Jie Zheng fought back from a set down to see off Estonian Kaia Kanepi in a third-set tiebreaker; and Argentine Gisela Dulko defeated Melinda Czink, 6-4, 6-2.