Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic, who reached the last 16 at Indian Wells last week, powered through her first-round match in Moscow 6-2, 6-4 against Russian Liudmila Samsonova in Moscow on Monday.
Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina upset Daria Kasatkina in straight sets to advance to the second round and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in an opening day that saw local players struggle.
American Bernarda Pera and Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko also progressed with straight-sets wins over Serbian Aleksandra Krunic and China’s Qinwen Zheng respectively.
Tomljanovic will face top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the round of 16.
