Barcelona, Spain (Sports Network) - Defending champion Roberta Vinci was
among Wednesday's upset victims at the $220,000 Barcelona Ladies Open.
Romanian Simona Halep drove out the fourth-seeded Vinci 6-1, 6-3 in second-
round action on the red clay at Centre Municipal de Tenis Vall d'Hebron.
Vinci topped Czech Lucie Hradecka in last year's finale, marking her second
title here in three years and her third straight trip into the Barcelona
final. Vinci was the 2010 runner-up here to former French Open champ and
fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone, this year's top seed who lost on Tuesday.
Another second-round upset came when Spanish crowd favorite Carla Suarez
Navarro defeated sixth-seeded Czech Petra Cetkovska, 6-2, 6-4. Suarez Navarro
will battle Halep in Friday's quarterfinals.
Seventh-seeded Italian Sara Errani avoided a second-round upset by blasting
Spanish lucky-loser Estrella Cabeza Candela, 6-0, 6-2.
A first-round upset came when Romanian Sorana Cirstea doused eighth-seeded
Slovenian Polona Hercog 6-4, as Hercog retired after the first set complaining
of dizziness.
This week's winner will claim $37,000.
The Sports Network