Emphatic Osaka powers into China Open round two
Naomi Osaka beat Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-3 to reach second round of China Open on Monday.
BEIJING (AFP) - US Open champion Naomi Osaka needed just 68 minutes to power into round two of the China Open with a dominant performance over Kazakh qualifier Zarina Diyas on Monday.
Also safely through on Beijing s outdoor hard courts is another reigning Grand Slam champion, Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki.
With world number one Simona Halep retiring from the tournament with a back injury and Serena Williams absent, Osaka and Wozniacki are among the favourites.
The Japanese Osaka, who is enjoying a breakthrough season after stunning Williams to win in New York, breezed past a bewildered Diyas 6-4, 6-3.
Osaka, a rising star of tennis at just 20, plays unseeded American Danielle Collins next.
Former world number one Wozniacki was similarly emphatic with a 6-2, 6-3 demolition of Switzerland s Belinda Bencic.
The world number two Dane was never in serious trouble against 41st-ranked Bencic, although it has not always been like that down the years, Bencic winning four of their past six meetings.
Wozniacki will play Croatia s unseeded Petra Martic in round two.
It was a case of seventh time lucky for another former number one, Garbine Muguruza, as the Spaniard set up a meeting with Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
Muguruza, who is now down in 15th in the world, made a fast start as she hammered Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-4, making the seventh match point count against the Russian.
Elise Mertens, the 15th seed from Belgium, suffered a surprise defeat to home player Zhang Shuai, the Chinese winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
