World No.1 Simona Halep struggled to shake off the effects of a back injury as she suffered a surprise 6-0 7-5 defeat to Slovak Dominika Cibulkova in the second round of the Wuhan Open.
But Australian No.1 Ashleigh Barty has made it into the third round of the WTA event after a three-set win over Chinese wildcard Saisai Zheng, where she is joined by compatriot Daria Gavrilova.
World No.17 Barty dropped the opening set on Tuesday before cruising home 4-6 6-1 6-2 to take the match in a little over two hours.
The 22-year-old Queenslander will next face reigning Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, who progressed after her American opponent Madison Keys was forced to retire injured trailing 6-0 4-1.
Barty and Germany’s Kerber have already met once this year, with world No.3 Kerber claiming the honours with a 6-4 6-4 win in the Sydney International final in January.
Barty’s fellow Australian Gavrilova also progressed as she won her second successive match at the tournament thanks to a straight-sets dismissal of Czech Barbora Strycova.
Next up for Gavrilova is wildcard Wang Qiang, who surprised eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-1 3-6 6-3.
Barty and Gavrilova will both feature on Centre Court on Wednesday, with the former opening the day’s play against Kerber with Gavrilova third on court against home favourite Wang, who has won 12 of her last 14 matches.
Top seed Halep, meanwhile, who had injured herself in training earlier this week, was broken twice as Cibulkova raced away to take the opening set to love.
The Romanian, given a first-round bye, twice broke back to lead 4-2 but the 26-year-old could not find a way back as Cibulkova closed out a 6-0 7-5 win, setting up a clash with Russia’s Daria Kasatkina.
Reigning Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki admitted to not being at her best despite powering past Rebecca Peterson 6-4 6-1.
Defending champion and fourth seeded Caroline Garcia was knocked out as Katerina Siniakova beat her 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4).
Fifth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova beat Serbian Aleksandra Krunic 6-3 6-4, but sixth seed Elina Svitolina went down 6-4 2-6 6-1 to Aryna Sabalenka.
Qualifier Katerina Siniakova, who was down a set and facing match point, produced a remarkable comeback to beat defending champion Caroline Garcia 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4).
Spaniard Garbine Muguruza also made short work of Viktorija Golubic, while Petra Kvitova beat Aleksandra Krunic 6-3 6-4.