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Kournikova advances to second round Posted: Tuesday April 30, 2002 2:12 PMBOL, Croatia (AP) -- Anna Kournikova ended a five-match losing streak Tuesday, beating Julia Vakulenko 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 and advancing to the second round of Croatian Bol Ladies Open. Kournikova, who had lost five consecutive first-round matches, defeated the 118th-ranked Ukrainian in two hours despite making some 50 unforced errors. The 20-year-old Russian, who's chasing her first WTA title, has dropped from eighth to 68th place in the WTA rankings following a stress fracture in her foot that sidelined her for much of last year. But she refuses to blame her slump on the injury. "It's not that I have to come back. I just have to start playing better," she said after struggling against Vakulenko. Kournikova, hugely popular in Croatia, drew a large crowd that was clearly on her side despite her poor play. Reporters cover every step she makes, and the newspapers have carried her photo on the front pages for days. In the second round, Kournikova will face seventh-seeded Tina Pisnik of Slovenia, who won the tournament two years ago. Pisnik defeated the Czech Republic's Zuzana Hejdova 6-2, 7-5. Sixth-seeded Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia also moved to the second round, ousting Maja Matevzic of Slovenia 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Croatia's Jelena Kostanic beat Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-4. Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia defeated Seda Noorlander of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-0 and will meet top-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia in the second round.
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