Wickmayer wins; McHale falls in Auckland
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Third seed Yanina Wickmayer moved on, while American Christina McHale was ousted at the season-opening ASB Classic tennis event.
The 2010 Auckland titlist Wickmayer, of Belgium, defeated Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, while France's Pauline Parmentier doused the seventh-seeded McHale 6-4, 6-1 on the hardcourts at ASB Tennis Centre.
Meanwhile, American Jamie Hampton posted an upset by dismissing fourth-seeded and defending Auckland champion Zheng Jie of China 7-5, 6-1, Dutch Kiki Bertens topped two-time Grand Slam singles champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-5, and Greek Eleni Daniilidou overcame American and fellow wild card Coco Vandeweghe 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Daniilidou captured this event back- to-back in 2003 and 2004.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Zheng bested Italian Flavia Pennetta in last year's Auckland finale.
Other Monday winners were Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, Romanian Simona Halep, Russian Elena Vesnina and Swede Johanna Larsson. Vesnina was an Auckland runner-up in 2009.
On Tuesday, top-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska will meet Hungarian lucky-loser Greta Arn, the 2011 Auckland champ.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This event serves as a tune-up for the Australian Open, which starts January 14.