Open-Kuznetsova raises claim for top spot

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova recovered from a slow start to beat Romanian teenager Sorana Cirstea 7-6 6-1 to reach the third round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday.

World number 53 Cirstea, in her first U.S. Open, had the 2004 champion worried when she broke in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead.

But the Russian third seed broke straight back, won the tiebreak 7-3 and then ripped through the second set to seal a third-round clash with Slovenian 28th seed Katarina Srebotnik or Austrian Yvonne Meusburger.

(Reporting by Simon Cambers, editing by Pritha Sarkar)