Carla Suarez Navarro wins first-round match at Carlsbad tennis event

CARLSBAD — Carla Suarez Navarro used a strong return game for a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sachie Ishizu in the first round of the Southern California Open on Tuesday.

The eighth-seeded Spaniard took advantage of her Japanese opponent’s serve by breaking Ishizu on both opportunities in the first set, then breaking her serve four more times in the second set to advance.

Suarez Navarro, the only seeded player in action Tuesday, played in her first tournament since losing a tight two-setter to world No. 8 Petra Kvitova in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.

British sensation Laura Robson, the highest ranked teenager in the world at No. 32, was extended before winning her first-round match over Japan’s Ayumi Morita, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. The next round figures to present a greater challenge for Robson, who will take on world No.7 Petra Kvitova.

Robson defeated Kvitova in three sets in their only previous meeting, in the second round of the Australian Open in January.

Qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan moved to the second round with a 6-5, 7-5 win over Germany’s Julia Goerges. Karatantcheva is ranked 137th in the world, while Goerges is No. 42.

In other first-round matches, Poland’s Ursula Radwanska was a 7-6 (3), 6-4 winner over qualifier Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, and qualifier Coco Vandeweghe advanced with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over wild-card entrant Allie Kiick, daughter of former Miami Dolphin running back Jim Kiick.

Vandeweghe, the niece of former UCLA and NBA star Kiki Vandeweghe, served 12 aces, won 24 of 25 first-serve points and never faced a break point in routing the 18-year-old Kiick.

Daniela Hantuchova, a former top-10 player from Slovakia, defeated Tamira Paszek of Austria, 6-0, 6-0.