Halep advances but Petkovic shocked in Guangzhou Open

GUANGZHOU, China (AP) Top-seeded Simona Halep of Romania cruised into the second round of the Guangzhou Open on Tuesday but second-seeded German Andrea Petkovic crashed out in the first round.

The 23-year-old Halep, who had reached the semifinals at this month's US Open, registered a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier Petra Martic of Croatia while Petkovic was beaten 6-1, 6-4 by Monica Puig of Puerto Rico.

Seventh-seeded Danka Kovinic of Montenegro was also knocked out as Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia prevailed 6-4, 6-2 in one hour, 10 minutes.

Third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy and fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic made the second round but were made to work hard by their opponents.

Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, Urszula Radwanska of Poland and Monica Niculescu of Romania were among the others to advance.