Begu defeats Witthoeft in first round of Gastein

Third-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania defeated Carina Witthoeft of Germany 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Gastein Ladies on Monday. (AP/Mark J. Terrill)

BAD GASTEIN, Austria — Top-seeded Mona Barthel of Germany needed only 35 minutes to advance to the second round of the Gastein Ladies, routing Chiara Scholl of the United States 6-0, 6-0 on Monday.

Barthel conceded only eight points on serve while avoiding break points. The 31th-ranked German took over the top seeding after defending champion Alize Cornet of France pulled out with a shoulder injury.

Also, third-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania defeated Carina Witthoeft of Germany 6-3, 6-3. Begu, who hit seven aces but double-faulted 11 times, will next play either Hungarian Grand Prix finalist Yvonne Meusburger of Austria or Jasmina Tinjic of Bosnia in the next round.

Also, No. 8 Karin Knapp of Italy beat Valeria Solovyeva of Russia 6-3, 6-2, and Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands edged No. 7 Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

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