WTA

• Ivanovic wins, Safina loses in first round in Stanford

  Stanford, CA (Sports Network) - Former world No. 1s Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Dinara Safina of Russia had different results in their respective first-round matches as wild cards Monday at the $700,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis event.

  Ivanovic, who has dropped down to No. 63 in the world rankings, bested Russian Alisa Kleybanova, 6-3, 6-2, on the hardcourts at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Kleybanova had beaten Ivanovic in two previous meetings this year.

  Safina, however, was ousted by Kimiko Date Krumm, 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, in two hours, 22 minutes.

  Safina, currently the 35th ranked player, lost to the native of Japan in the first round of this year's French Open and has dropped six consecutive matches overall.

  Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, the tournament's only seeded player in action on Monday, had a tough time disposing of South African Chanelle Scheepers, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

  In the other two first-round matches, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia cruised past American Hilary Barte, 6-2, 6-2, and Olga Govortsova of Belarus made quick work of Russian Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-1, 6-1.

  This week's top seeds are French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur and Russian star Elena Dementieva, who has been sidelined by a calf injury since retiring from her semifinal match against eventual champion Francesca Schiavone at the French Open early last month.

  France's Marion Bartoli, seeded fourth this week, surprised American Venus Williams in last year's Stanford finale.

  07/27 02:25:19 ET