Russian Anna Chakvetadze beat Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Dubai Championships on Tuesday.

Sixth-seeded Chakvetadze faces compatriot Dinara Safina in the second round in Dubai.

Russian's Dinara Safina came good as she beat Selima Sfar of Tunisia in a straightforward 6-1, 6-3.

Eighth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia also made a successful start as she defeated Swiss Patty Schnyder 7-5, 6-2.

But Dementieva's compatriot Maria Kirilenko went out in the first round 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to in-form Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine, Australian Open doubles champion with her sister.

The event is headed by four-time champion Justine Henin, winner of the last three editions.

Sania through

Sania Mirza and her Italian partner Francesca Schiavone reached quarterfinals in the doubles after winning their first round encounter in straight sets, adds PTI from Dubai.

The Indo-Italian combine beat formidable Wild Card pair of Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-4, 6-4 in the opener at the WTA Tier-II Hard court event on Monday night.

The winners next play the winners of the match between top seeded pair of Zimbawean Cara Black and American Liezel Huber and Chinese duo of Shuai Peng and Tiantian Sun.

Haas advances

Champion Tommy Haas easily won his opening match in the Memphis Championships on Monday, defeating Argentine Diego Hartfield 6-3, 6-2, while Lindsay Davenport made a successful debut at the tournament with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over German teenager Sabine Lisicki, adds Reuters.

Seventh-seed Juergen Melzer of Austria also advanced in the men’s draw with a 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 victory over American John Isner.

In the women’s draw, former world number one and fourth-seeded Davenport avenged a Fed Cup loss to Lisicki with a powerful service game.

Fifth-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus also advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over American Mashona Washington. Men's second seed James Blake, however, withdrew with a knee injury.