TOKYO, Sept 23: Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia defeated Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 7-6 in the opening round of the Pan Pacific Open here on Sunday.

The 12th-seeded Cibulkova improved to 4-1 in head-to-head matches against the unseeded Garrigues after dispatching her in in 1 hour, 36 minutes at Ariake Coliseum.

Cibulkova will next face the winner of Monday’s first-round match between Vania King of the US and China’s Zheng Jie.

In other first round matches, 14th-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 while Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic overpowered Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-3.

Japanese wild card Ayumi Morita defeated Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 while Croatia’s Petra Martic recovered from a poor start for an 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Germany’s Andrea Petkovic.

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka has a first-round bye as does second-seeded Maria Sharapova, who won here in 2005 and 2009. The $1.2 million tournament features 12 of the top 13 players in the world rankings.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding): First round: Petra Martic (Croatia) bt Andrea Petkovic (Germany) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3; Ayumi Morita (Japan) bt Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) 6-3, 6-3; 12-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3); 14-Roberta Vinci (Italy) bt Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.—Agencies