Errani, Vinci advance to second round at China Open

Fifth seed Sara Errani and 10th seed Roberta Vinci, both from Italy, reached the second round of the China Open here Saturday but they followed different paths en route to respective victories.

Playing against Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, Errani led 5-0 in the opening set but her opponent clawed back to claim five games in a row and then forced a tie-break, Xinhua reported.

Errani did not lose her nerves to take the tiebreak at 7-3. And after that, the Italian did not look back. She claimed the win at 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 in one hour and 30 minutes.

Errani's compatriot and also her doubles longtime partner Vinci had a much easier time of it, needing just one hour or so to defeat Elina Svitolina from Ukraine 6-2, 6-2.

Another Italian Francesca Schiavone, a former French Open winner, also reached the second round with an easy win after her French opponent Alize Cornet retired from the opening round match citing a back injury.

Elsewhere, 11th seed Sloane Stephens of the US was hardly tested by Canadian player Aleksandra Wozniak before she made the next round with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph.

Other winners on the first match day include 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and Monica Niculescu of Romania.