Kremlin Cup: Cornet breezes past home hope Makarova

There were wins for Alize Cornet and Anett Kontaveit on the WTA Tour on Monday, while Sorana Cirstea retired hurt.

Alize Cornet cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ekaterina Makarova.

There was no room for sentiment as Alize Cornet blasted past Moscow native Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets in the first round of the Kremlin Cup on Monday.

Cornet cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over the Russian, whose compatriot Olesya Pervushina — ranked 549 in the world — failed to produce an upset against Yulia Putintseva, losing 7-5, 6-1.

The big surprise of the day belonged to world No. 100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who came from behind to beat 45th-ranked Timea Babos 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to book a meeting with top seed Kristina Mladenovic in round two.

Katerina Siniakova stormed to a 6-0, 6-2 win against Donna Vekic, while Lesia Tsurenko eliminated Christina McHale in straight sets and will take on another American, CoCo Vandeweghe next.

At the Luxembourg Open, Anett Kontaveit, seeded third, eased past Jana Cepelova 6-0, 6-2, and there were also wins for Elise Mertens, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Madison Brengle and Carina Witthoft.

Veronica Cepede Royg progressed after fourth seed Sorana Cirstea retired with a thigh injury during the second set of their match.