Monterrey, April 3 (IANS): Ukraine's third-seed Lesia Tsurenko defeated Japan's Nao Hibino in three sets in the opening round of the Monterrey Open in Mexico. Tsurenko, who is ranked number 40 in the world by the WTA, fought back from a set down to overcome Hibino 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4 and progress to the second round of the tournament on Monday, reports Efe. Hibino, ranked world number 47, broke her rival early to go 2-1 up, but Tsurenko soon levelled at 2-2, after which the set progressed on a level footing for both players until the tie break, which the Japanese won 7-2. The Ukrainian fought back in the second set, and prevailed 6-4, 6-4 in the final two sets to win the match. In the second round, Tsurenko will face the winner of the match between Colombia's Mariana Duque and Danielle Collins of the United States. Meanwhile, Slovakia's second seed Magdalena Rybarikova took an hour and a half to defeat Japan's Risa Ozaki 6-4, 6-3 and move into the second round. Playing on the central court on Monday, world number 17 Rybarikova's serve was the key difference between the two players and helped her clinch the first set, reports Efe. Rybarikova broke Ozaki, ranked number 267 in the world, in the fifth game of the second set, but the Japanese fought back to draw level 3-3. The Slovak outplayed Ozaki in the next three games to move onto the second round, where she will play the winner of the tennis match between Greece's Valentini Grammatikopoulou and Croatia's Jana Fett. On Tuesday, top seed Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain will play Mexico's Renata Zarazua, and Olympic champion Monica Puig of Puerto Rico will face the American Nicole Gibbs.
