GUANGZHOU — Puerto Rico's Monica Puig upset No. 2 seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany in first-round play Tuesday in the WTA Guangzhou International Women's Open. The unseeded Puig defeated Petkovic 6-1, 6-4 in the biggest upset of the day in the southern Chinese city. Players are battling for prize money of $250,000. There were no surprises for top-seeded Simona Halep of Romania, who beat Petra Martic of Croatia 6-4, 6-2. In the day's other upset, Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia defeated No. 7 seed Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-4, 6-2. Number 3 seed Sara Errani of Italy, meanwhile, was pushed to three sets before defeating China's Duan Ying-ying 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia beat Russia's Elena Vesnina 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, taking the first set with a tiebreaker. Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, seeded fifth, defeated Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 7-5. Sixth seed Monica Niculescu of Romania beat Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-3, needing a tiebreaker to win the first set. And China's top player Zheng Saisai, seeded eighth in the tournament, downed Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-2, 6-1. Suarez Navarro wins Carla Suarez Navarro ended her eight-match dry spell with a hard-earned 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory Tuesday against Kateryna Bondarenko at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. In other matches German fifth-seed Angelique Kerber crushed Daria Gavrilova of Russia 6-2, 6-2. It was Kerber's first appearance since her nail-biting US Open third-round showdown against Victoria Azarenka, when she lost but won much praise for her performance. In other action, eighth-seed Belinda Bencic beat China's Xi Yi-Fan 6-0, 6-0. Samantha Stosur of Australia beat Alison Riske of the United States 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. Sasnovich advances in Korea In Seoul, Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus knocked out sixth-seeded Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 6-3, 6-2 Tuesday in the first round of the Korea Open. Top-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania saved all three break points in her match against Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine to prevail 6-2, 6-4. Third-seeded Sloane Stephens and fourth-seeded Varvara Lepchenko, both of the United States, also scored straight-set victories to advance to the second round. Veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, Elizaveta Kulichkova of Russia and Christina McHale of the US were among the others to notch first-round wins. Murray warned Andy Murray has been told he is “required” to compete in the ATP Tour Finals after the Scot discussed skipping the event to prepare for the Davis Cup final. After helping Great Britain reach a first Davis Cup final in 37 years by beating Australia, Murray suggested he might miss the hard-court ATP Tour Finals to prepare for the Davis Cup showpiece, which is expected to be played on clay. But although the Davis Cup final begins on Nov. 27, just five days after the ATP Tour Finals conclude, ATP president Chris Kermode expects Murray to be present at London's O2 Arena. “The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is a mandatory event on the ATP World Tour and all players who qualify, unless injured, are required to compete in the event,” Kermote said in comments quoted by several British newspapers Tuesday. “Unless we hear otherwise via an official withdrawal, he is still entered to compete at the O2.” — Agencies
