GUANGZHOU, China — Top-seeded Simona Halep of Romania cruised into the second round of the Guangzhou Open on Tuesday but second-seeded German Andrea Petkovic crashed out in the first round.
The 23-year-old Halep, who had reached the semifinals at this month's US Open, registered a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier Petra Martic of Croatia while Petkovic was beaten 6-1, 6-4 by Monica Puig of Puerto Rico.
Seventh-seeded Danka Kovinic of Montenegro was also knocked out as Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia prevailed 6-4, 6-2 in one hour, 10 minutes.
Third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy and fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic made the second round but were made to work hard by their opponents.