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Summary Petra Kvitova beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of China Open.
Fourth seed Petra Kvitova sent out a message of intent on Saturday, convincingly defeating Slovakias Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets to progress to the second round of the China Open in Beijing.The world number five from the Czech Republic was in full control throughout almost all of her first round match at the capitals National Tennis Stadium, powerfully overcoming her opponent, ranked 33 in the WTA standings, 6-2, 6-3.Kvitova, last years Wimbledon champion, broke Hantuchovas serve in the fifth game of the first set to take a 3-2 lead and never looked back, winning the set without further reply before quickly racing ahead 3-0 in the second.A couple of dropped games in quick succession momentarily stemmed Kvitovas momentum but her big-hitting ultimately proved too much for Hantuchova who appeared tired and started to make unforced errors with increasing regularity.Kvitova credited her win to some good returns and an improvement in her service game, something that has disappointed her of late, adding that she was happy to have won in straight sets.Earlier, former world number one Ana Ivanovic eased into the second round, defeating American Christina McHale in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.The 24-year-old Serbian played aggressively from the start, hitting big first serves and powerful forehand drives which McHale, ranked 28 in the world, was unable to match.The world number 12 will play American Varvara Lepchenko, who defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, in the second round.Ivanovic admitted she didnt know much about her next opponent but was aware that she serves big and has a powerful game.Also in the first round on Saturday Taiwans Hsieh Su-Wei, winner of the Guangzhou Open this month, defeated Zheng Saisai of China 6-2, 6-3 while in an all-Chinese clash Zhang Shuai beat Wang Qiang 6-3, 6-2.Romina Oprandi of Switzerland and Spains Carla Suarez Navarro also progressed to the second round, as did Yaroslava Shvedova from Kazakhstan who was 6-4, 4-1 up when her opponent and 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova retired due to an injury.In the final match of the day Tamira Paszek of Austria and Olga Govortsova of Belarus played out a three-set thriller with the former finally triumphing 7-5, 0-6, 7-6 (8/6).
