Romanian top seed Irina-Camelia Begu scored a comfortable victory over Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Kozlova in the first round of the WTA Korea Open on Tuesday.
Begu, ranked 29th in the world, beat Kozlova in straight sets 6-2 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with Polona Hercog of Slovenia.
American third seed Sloane Stephens, ranked 32nd in the world, had little trouble against South Korean wildcard Han Na-Lae 6-1 6-1.
Two other Americans also advanced to the second round, with fourth seed Varvara Lepchenko pushing aside Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-2 6-3. Christina McHale won the first set 6-4 but was down 1-2 in the second when Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan abandoned the match.
Elizaveta Kulichkova of Russia needed three sets against Heather Watson of England to book her place in the second round 6-4 3-6 6-3.