Kerber sails through Hong Kong Open first round

Angelique Kerber on Tuesday entered the second round of the Hong Kong Open with a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 victory over Maria Sakkari.

Angelique Kerber will face American Louisa Chirico in the second round of Hong Kong Open.

Top seed Angelique Kerber on Tuesday sailed through the first round of the Hong Kong Open with a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 victory over Maria Sakkari.

The reigning Australian and U.S. Open champion beat the Greek player, ranked 97th in the world, in an hour 21 minutes.

The 28-year-old German, who is currently in the top spot in the Road to Singapore rankings, will face American Louisa Chirico in the second round.

In other first round matches, defending champion Jelena Jankovic, who beat Kerber in last year's Hong Kong final, eased through American Samantha Crawford 6-3, 6-1 in slightly more than an hour.

Danish Caroline Wozniacki, former World No. 1 and now fifth seed, beat China's Zheng Saisai 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the second round.

But former U.S. Open champion, Australia's Samantha Stosur, crashed out in the first round in a 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Nao Hibino of Japan.

Johanna Konta put the disappointment of defeat in the China Open final behind her to kick off her Hong Kong Open campaign with a 6-2 6-2 win against compatriot Naomi Broady.

Two breaks in each set proved enough for Konta - a new addition to world's top 10 - to brush aside Broady, facing a single break point as she dominated on her own serve.

Another British player, Heather Watson, joins Konta in the second round following her 7-5 7-6 (11-9) win against Marina Erakovic and will now take on fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki, who knocked out Zheng Saisai 6-1 6-4.