The GDF Suez Grand Prix women's tennis tournament opened in Budapest, Hungary, on Monday with first-round singles victories for Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, Catalina Castano of Colombia, Greta Arn of Hungary and Peng Shuai of China.
Monday's results went as expected with Chakvetadze beating Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine 6-2, 6-0. 2005 finalist Castano beat the Slovakian Kristina Kucova 6-0,6-3, while local favorite and former semi-finalist Arn came back from a set down to beat Darya Kustova of Belarus in three sets 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Fifth seed Peng Shuai beat the tournament's youngest player Silvia Njiric of Croatia 6-1, 6-3.
"In the first set, I was playing well, which was good as this is my first match after my illness that forced me to skip the French Open as well as Wimbledon. In the second set, I rushed to finish games when I had break points but I made some mistakes and my opponent came back. I try to do my best at this tournament even without my coach who had to fly home. This is my first time in Budapest and I like it here," Peng said. The WTA Tour outdoor clay court event has been staged since 1993.