ISTANBUL, Turkey - Both seeds in action on Day 1 of the Istanbul Cup, which switched to hardcourts this year after four years on red clay, were tested but moved on.

No.4 seed Aravane Rezai, the runner-up here in 2007 to Elena Dementieva, beat Viktoriya Kutuzova, 76(3) 62, raising her career record to 4-0 against the Ukrainian. Three of those victories have come this year, including in the semifinals of Strasbourg en route to Rezai's first-ever Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.

Conversely, seventh-seeded Olga Govortsova was 0-4 all-time against fellow Belarusian Tsvetana Pironkova prior to this event, including defeats here in 2007 and 2008 and a loss in Hobart this year in which she only managed three games. However, Govortsova finally recorded a win against Pironkova, a two-time semifinalist here, on Monday, though just barely, 62 57 64.

Also recording first round victories Monday were Marta Domachowska, Maria Elena Camerin, wildcard Pemra Ozgen and Timea Bacsinszky, who in recent weeks reached the quarters in Budapest and the semis in Prague. Advancing to the main draw with wins in the final round of qualifying were Anastasiya Yakimova, Alina Jidkova, Yuliana Fedak and Ekaterina Dzehalevich.

Top-seeded Vera Zvonareva and Andrea Petkovic, fresh off her first career Tour singles title in Bad Gastein last week, are among those in action Tuesday.