Bacsinszky and Pavlyuchenkova through to round two in Rabat
Johanna Larsson was no match for Timea Bacsinszky and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also only needed two sets to win in Rabat.
OMNISPORT
Defending champion Timea Bacsinszky and top seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova sealed straight-sets victories in the first round of the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem on Tuesday.
Bacsinszky claimed the last of her four WTA singles titles in Rabat last year and remains in the hunt for a fifth this week after beating Johanna Larsson 6-3 6-1.
The second seed from Switzerland needed only an hour and 20 minutes to advance on a windy day in the Moroccan capital, breaking four times in the opening set and twice in the second to ensure she will face CiCi Bellis in round two.
Pavlyuchenkova got the better of Conny Perrin, who lost the first five games of the match and was dumped out after letting a 4-2 lead slip in a second-set tie-break.
Sixth seed Irina-Camelia Begu was surprisingly beaten 6-3 6-1 by Tatjana Maria, but Daria Gavrilova, Lauren Davis, Gabriela Dabrowski and Yaroslava Shvedova made it through.
Kateryna Bondarenko and Elise Mertens were also winners on day two of the clay-court event.