STRASBOURG, France - On a day in which four of the five seeds in action at the Internationaux de Strasbourg went down, No.1 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues was tested by Yanina Wickmayer, but prevailed, 16 63 63.

The strong challenge put up by Wickmayer shouldn't be considered a surprise, as the Belgian won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title just two weeks ago in Estoril. Medina Garrigues, who won this event in 2005, 2007 and 2008, is seeking her 10th career Tour singles title, having won her ninth earlier this month in Fès.

A fourth title in Strasbourg is looking like a good possibility for the Spaniard, as a day after No.2 seed Sybille Bammer was eliminated, No.5 seed Tamarine Tanasugarn, No.6 seed Elena Vesnina, No.7 seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld and No.8 seed Nathalie Dechy all lost.

Qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova, who won her only previous match-up with Tanasugarn at an ITF Women's Circuit event last month in Tourhout, routed the Thai, 63 60; Julie Coin, who knocked Vesnina out of the Australian Open this year in their only previous encounter, defeated the Russian, 64 62; qualifier Monica Niculescu, who only won a total of four games in her first two career meetings with Groenefeld - at Indian Wells and Madrid this year - edged the German, 46 62 63; and Alla Kudryavtseva got past Dechy, 60 67(5) 63.

Also advancing Tuesday were Pauline Parmentier, Lucie Hradecka, Stéphanie Foretz, Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, Anastasiya Yakimova and qualifier Yuliya Beygelzimer.

All three seeds remaining in the draw are scheduled to play Wednesday. Medina Garrigues goes up against Kristina Barrois; No.3 seed Peng Shuai squares off with Parmentier; and No.4 seed Gisela Dulko, the only seed left in the bottom half of the draw, plays Cohen-Aloro.