Former champion Kuznetsova cruises into second round

NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova battered her way into the second round of the US Open today with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Czech Klara Zakopalova.

The fourth seed, who won the title in 2004, needed just 64 minutes to win through to a meeting with Camille Pin of France or Ukrainian qualifier Tatiana Perebiynis.

''I think I played better in the first set,'' Kuznetsova said in a courtside interview.

''I got a bit tired in the second set but I am happy to get through. I feel like my game is getting there and hopefully I will get better with each match.'' Kuznetsova won the tournament in New Haven last week but said she had largely taken a novel approach to preparing for the final grand slam of the year: ''I rested a lot.'' REUTERS MS HS2248