GUANGZHOU, China, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- No. 4-seeded Petra Martic kicked off first-round play Monday at the Guangzhou International Women's Open tennis tournament with a straight-set win.
Martic topped Chang Kai-Chen 6-4, 6-4 with a pair of service breaks in each set. Martic won nearly 70 percent of the points when she was good on her first serve.
Also Monday, Urszula Radwanska defeated Anastasia Rodionova 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn ousted local favorite Zheng Saisai.
Zheng, a wild-card entrant, forced 13 break-point situations on Lertcheewakarn but was able to cash in only two. Lertcheewakarn fought off five break points in sweeping the second set.
Radwanska and Rodionova battled for more than 2 1/2 hours before Radwanska was able to advance. There were a total of 13 service breaks -- seven by Radwanska -- in the 22-game match.
Maria Kirilenko is the No. 1 seed at Guangzhou, with defending champion Jarmila Gajdosova seeded second.
