HONG KONG: Top seed Angelique Kerber on Tuesday sailed through the first round of the Hong Kong Open with a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 victory over Maria Sakkari.
The reigning Australian and US Open champion beat the Greek player, ranked 97th in the world, in an hour 21 minutes.
The 28-year-old German, who is currently in the top spot in the Road to Singapore rankings, will face American Louisa Chirico in the second round.
In other first round matches, defending champion Jelena Jankovic, who beat Kerber in last year’s Hong Kong final, eased through American Samantha Crawford 6-3, 6-1 in slightly more than an hour.
Danish Caroline Wozniacki, former world number one and now fifth seed, beat China’s Zheng Saisai 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the second round.
But former US Open champion, Australia’s Samantha Stosur, crashed out in the first round in a 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Nao Hibino of Japan.
