Chakvetadze through at rain-affected German Open

BERLIN, May 8 (Reuters) Russian ninth seed Anna Chakvetadze reached the second round of the German Open on a rain-interrupted second day of the tournament today.

Chakvetadze, the world number 11, dropped the first set to Australia's Samantha Stosur but came through 3-6 7-6 7-6 and will play Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.

Russian 10th seed Elena Dementieva, a former finalist at the US and French Opens, also dropped a set but rallied to beat Mara Santangelo of Italy 4-6 6-1 6-4.

Belgian world number one Justine Henin, winner earlier this week in Warsaw, is the top seed for the 1.34 million dollars, claycourt tournament. Six other top 10 players are in the main draw, including defending champion Nadia Petrova of Russia.

REUTERS AKD RAI2006