Yulia Putintseva and Kristina Mladenovic were among the winners in first round matches on a day of few surprises at the Astana Open.
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Top-seeded Putintseva started her bid to win the WTA's only event in her home nation of Kazakhstan with little fuss as she beat Ekaterine Gorgodze 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday. She will meet Vera Lapko in the second round.
Seeded third, French player Mladenovic had a tougher time as she needed nearly three hours to defeat local wild card Anna Danilina 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4. She faces Anastasia Potapova in the second round.
The only one of the six seeded players in action to lose was fourth-seeded Greet Minnen, of Belgium, beaten 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 by Slovenia's Kaja Juvan.
Ana Konjuh beat Urszula Radwanska, Rebecca Peterson defeated Stefanie Voegele and Clara Burel was leading 5-2 in the first set when her opponent Mandy Minella retired.
The only Australian entrant, Arina Rodionova, was knocked out on Monday.
Australian Associated Press