Clijsters wins in 1st round at Unicef Open

Top-seeded Kim Clijsters beat Monica Niculescu 7-5, 7-5 in the first round of the Unicef Open, a grass-court warmup for Wimbledon.

In the men’s tournament, top-seeded Nicolas Amalgro lost to Michael Berrer of Germany 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

After leading 4-2, Clijsters lost three straight games before winning three in a row to finish the set.

In the second, Clijsters broke Niculescu in the sixth game, but the Romanian broke right back and then both held serve until Niculescu double-faulted to end the match.

“It always takes a little getting used to,” Clijsters said of her first match on grass this year. “It was important to stay focused on every point.”  Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia also advanced, beating Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-4.

Marcos Baghdatis also reached the second round. The second-seeded Cypriot defeated Arnaud Clement of France 7-6 (4), 6-3.

“I started a little nervous, so I’m happy I won,” Baghdatis said. “It was a great victory today.” Nicolas Mahut of France advanced by eliminating sixth-seeded Adrian Mannarino 6-7 (2), 3-6.