Early cheers for Hantuchova in Leipzig

LEIPZIG, Germany (Reuters) -- Fifth seed Daniela Hantuchova was the highest seed in action at the Leipzig Grand Prix WTA indoor tournament on Monday, beating Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-2 to reach the second round.

The Slovakian, who has endured a miserable run of form since a second-round defeat at Wimbledon to slide outside the world's top 10, came through a tight first set before finding her range against her 18-year-old opponent.

The victory was only Hantuchova's second against a player ranked inside the top 30 in her past 12 tournaments.

Top seed Kim Clijsters, who has flown to Germany after watching her boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt lead Australia to an epic victory in the Davis Cup semi-final against Switzerland in Melbourne, begins her challenge on Wednesday.

The Belgian is seeded to meet compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final, where she will hope to avenge her defeat in the U.S. Open final.

Second seed Henin-Hardenne, who will face Czech Denisa Chladkova in the second round after receiving a bye, will move to within 100 points of world number one Clijsters if she repeats her victory in New York.

Joining Hantuchova in the second round is former top 10 player Patty Schnyder after the Swiss battled from a set and 5-3 down to beat 2000 finalist Elena Likhovtseva 6-7, 7-5, 6-3.

"When she was serving for the match I told myself to make my returns [out] in front and really go for it -- it was not enough just to put the ball in," said Schnyder.

Eighth seed Silvia Farina-Elia also came through a stern test against Greek player Eleni Daniilidou, winning 6-1, 6-7, 6-2.

Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.