Petra Martic

Svitolina has endured a disappointing start to the season and there was no upturn in fortunes in Doha, where she was beaten 6-3 6-3 in the second round.

Martic got past Barbora Strycova in the first round in Dubai last week, but the Czech gained revenge with a 4-6 6-1 6-1 victory to move into round two.

Alison Riske, the 13th seed, lost an all-American encounter with Jennifer Brady, while 17th seed Donna Vekic went down in straight sets to Iga Swiatek.

Kiki Bertens had no such trouble, winning 6-2 6-4 against Karolina Muchova to reach the third round, while Elena Rybakina came from a set down to oust Sorana Cirstea.

TEENAGER ANISIMOVA STARTLES SVITOLINA

Svitolina has won just four matches this year and it was 18-year-old Anisimova who inflicted another blow on the world number seven.

The American teenager claimed a first top 10 win of 2020, taking just 64 minutes to sail through in her first appearance in this tournament.

She struck 27 winners and saved all three break points faced and will take on either Swiatek or Svetlana Kuznetsova for a place in the quarter-finals.

RYBAKINA ROARS BACK

Rybakina suffered the agony of a defeat to Simona Halep in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday.

The 20-year-old rising star from Kazakhstan, up to a career-high 17th in the rankings, gave another demonstration of her fighting spirit by roaring back to beat Cirstea 3-6 6-3 6-1.

Rybakina already has 20 victories to her name this season and will be expected to make it 21 when she takes on Alison Van Uytvanck in the second round.

SUAREZ NAVARRO SETS UP BATTLE OF FORMER CHAMPIONS

Carla Suarez Navarro coasted to a 7-5 6-0 first-round victory over Zhang Shuai on day two of the tournament.

The Spaniard's reward will be a tough encounter with Petra Kvitova, two players who have experienced glory in Doha.

Suarez Navarro won the tournament in four years ago and Kvitova was crowned champion in 2018.

Home favourite and top seed Barty had to come from a set down to progress in Melbourne, beating Lesia Tsurenko 5-7 6-1 6-1.

The Queenslander ensured she joined several other big names in advancing, with defending champion Naomi Osaka triumphing along with Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova - straight-sets winners over Anastasia Potapova and Katerina Siniakova respectively.

Venus Williams did not follow her sister into round two, though, as she fell to 15-year-old Coco Gauff once again.

Gauff had already beaten fellow American Williams at Wimbledon last year and pulled off a repeat on Monday.

Sloane Stephens crashed out 2-6 7-5 6-2 to Zhang Shuai, while Barbora Strycova lost to Sorana Cirstea in straight sets, but fellow seeds Petra Martic, Sofia Kenin and Ekaterina Alexandrova all advanced.

Caroline Wozniacki, who will retire at the end of the tournament, prolonged her career by easing past Kristie Ahn 6-1 6-3.

BARTY GETTING BETTER AT EACH SLAM

Barty won the French Open last season and feels she is improving with the experience of every major.

"It's always a little bit different, I think," she said. "Slams always feel like there's a lot of chaos going because there's so many people.

"It's busy with singles and doubles players, mixed players, families, coaches, everyone underneath. It's just chaos.

"When you're able to separate that from when you step on the court is when you can do a little bit better, play a little bit better, feel a little bit more comfortable.

"I feel like we've been able to do that better and better with each slam that I've played. It's an experience thing. You have to learn how to deal with it, but it's getting better."

Reflecting on her role as a home favourite and the top seed, Barty added: "I feel like I'm doing it the best way that I know how. I'm doing it with my team. We're doing it as a team.

"We're loving it. We're embracing it. There's no other way to approach it. I think we're just going along for the ride, trying to play some good tennis."

VENUS: THE SKY'S THE LIMIT FOR COCO

Seven-time grand slam winner Venus Williams knows a thing or two about champions, and she expects new nemesis Gauff to go all the way to the top.

Asked if the teenager has a "champion's mentality", Williams replied: "She clearly wants it, works very hard, is extremely mature for her age. I think the sky's the limit for her."

The veteran was impressed by Gauff's mentality, adding: "She just played very focused and put a lot of balls in the court. That's what you have to do.

"She'll play well for the rest of the event."

WOZNIACKI 'TRYING TO ENJOY THE MOMENT'

Knowing her career is coming to an end, Wozniacki acknowledged she found it difficult to keep her emotions in check.

But the 2018 champion is determined to enjoy her final days at the top of the sport.

"I feel good, having won my first match here. It's always tricky, especially knowing it's my last tournament," she said. "There's a lot of just emotions, but I tried to keep them in check, and I thought I did that very well today.

"I think I'm just really trying to enjoy every moment. I don't know that there is one particular moment, but there is once in a while where you're like, 'Wow, this really is my last one'.

"You never know, it [could be] still two weeks from now. But every match you go out there, I'm just going to give it everything that I have, because it could be the last."

Seventh seed Kasatkina had no answers in Stuttgart as she fell to a 6-1 6-1 defeat against Badosa, who recorded the ninth top-10 victory of her career and first in exactly 12 months.

Badosa has won 29 clay-court matches in the last three seasons – only Ons Jabeur (35) and Iga Swiatek (30) have won more – but the Spaniard had to enter this tournament as a wildcard.

The 25-year-old was as high as second in the world last year but has fallen to 31st, and she outlined her goal to reach the top once more after her first-round win set up an all-Spanish meeting with Cristina Bucsa.

When asked about her ambitions to return to the world's top three, Badosa said: "That's what I'm working on every day. That's one of my goals – I want to be back on the top.

"I like to play big matches, I like to be in the last rounds of the tournaments. I still know I have that level. I still know I was that player. I still believe in myself, and I hope I'm back there very soon."

Jelena Ostapenko eased into the second round with similar dominance after downing Raducanu 6-2 6-1 in just 58 minutes, teeing up a meeting with world number four Ons Jabeur on Wednesday.

Latvian Ostapenko powered 19 forehand winners and went unbroken, acknowledging in her on-court interview that familiar aggression was key to her success in the battle of two one-time grand slam winners.

"I knew against her the main thing was to step in the court," said former French Open winner Ostapenko. "I missed some balls, but I tried to be aggressive all the time when it was possible.

"Just try to take the ball early, don't give her many chances. And finally, I'm back on clay, my favourite surface."

Barbora Krejcikova was another straight-sets winner, scoring a 6-2 6-0 triumph over Liudmila Samsonova, with the reward for the 2021 Roland Garros champion being a tricky clash against second seed and Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka.

There was no such ease for Anastasia Potapova in a battling 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-4) victory over Petra Martic, the Russian's ninth third-set win in 2023 – no WTA Tour player has managed more.

Tatjana Maria overcame Ylena In-Albon 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-4) in another enticing clash, while Beatriz Haddad Maia advanced after Martina Trevisan was forced to retire when trailing 7-5 1-1 due to a right thigh injury.

The world number one was leading 6-4 2-1 in Rome when, with her left thigh also heavily strapped, she pulled out of the match following talks with a trainer.

Barty's decision was precautionary as she will begin her French Open campaign in a little over two weeks' time, bidding to regain the title she won two years ago.

The scare came just hours after world number three Simona Halep announced she tore a calf muscle this week, putting the Romanian's Roland Garros prospects in some doubt.

Providing an update after the match with Gauff, which was interrupted by a rain delay, Australian Barty said: "The pain was becoming too severe so it was important to listen to my body and do the right thing knowing we have a slam."

Gauff, who had hit 12 winners to 15 unforced errors prior to her opponent's withdrawal, will now compete in her first career WTA 1000 semi-final.

Karolina Pliskova remained on course for a second Rome triumph in three years, after saving three match points to edge out Jelena Ostapenko.

The 2019 champion, who also finished runner-up last year, was 5-4 down in the final set when digging deep to hold off her 49th-ranked opponent.

The thrilling match went to a tie-break and Pliskova reeled off seven straight points after losing the opener to advance 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-1).

"I'm just proud of how I fought," Pliskova said at her post-match news conference. "I'm happy that I stayed in there and fought until the end.

"We played last month, so I knew what was going to be happening. You can never get ready for some of the balls which she's playing."

Petra Martic stands between Pliskova and a place in the final for the third year running after the Croatian defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-4.

Pegula eliminated Naomi Osaka earlier in the week but was second best against Martic, who progressed in one hour and 40 minutes.

Martic trailed 2-0 in the opening set before twice breaking Pegula to move 3-2 in front, but her opponent hit back to make it 5-5 in a tight contest.

However, Martic managed to break in the 11th game and served out the set, before showing her steeliness in the second to remain on course for a maiden WTA 1000 crown.  

The world number nine, who is yet to drop a set this week, is into her second WTA final of 2023, having triumphed in Adelaide last month.

Haddad Maia arrived in the clash fresh from winning each of her previous six encounters with top-10 opponents, including her quarter-final victory over Wimbledon champion and Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina.

But the Brazilian had already spent almost eight hours on court in this event prior to this contest, in which Bencic dropped just five games on the way to wracking up her 11th win of the campaign – the joint-most on the WTA Tour alongside Melbourne winner Aryna Sabalenka.

She will play number eight seed Liudmila Samsonova in Sunday's final after the Russian defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-4 1-6 6-4.

After being edged out in the first set, Zheng responded to motor through the second and seemed to have the momentum going into the third, but Samsonova showed impressive resolve to see off three break points against her, before taking her first on match point.

At the Linz Open, top seed Maria Sakkari is out after going down 3-6 6-3 6-4 to sixth seed Petra Martic in a match that lasted over two and a half hours.

The Croatian will play Anastasia Potapova in the final after the number eight seed claimed yet another three-set victory this week to see off Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 and secure her fifth WTA final appearance.

The world number 85 secured the second WTA title of her career in one hour and 29 minutes on the clay on Sunday after a dominant showing against the Serbian.

Martic had eliminated three seeds on her way to the final and made a strong start as she broke Danilovic in the opening game the contest.

Danilovic recovered well and broke back soon after, before rescuing six break points in the seventh game, but she was unable to keep the Croatian at bay in her next service game as Martic took another break, before serving out to clinch the first set with a beautiful forehand down the line.

Martic's serve was her strength on the day, winning 71.8 per cent of her first serves, but more impressively, 63.2 per cent of her second serves compared to 29.2 per cent from her opponent.

Danilovic was competing in her first WTA Tour final in 1,449 days, with her last one being on July 29, 2018, when she won in Moscow.

A steady start to the second set from Danilovic was undone in the fifth game after a sloppy service game saw Martic break to love.

The 31-year-old was then made to work to hold her own serve, before breaking again following a couple of fortunate moments when the ball clipped the net.

Martic - who had been ranked as high as 14th in the world in 2020 - then served out with ease to clinch her first title since 2019, and despite the comfortable victory, had words of praise for her 21-year-old opponent during her on-court interview post-match.

"When I arrived here the first day, I came to check out the centre courts and I saw Olga playing," she told the crowd. "I said to my manager 'she is going to be a great player'. She already is."

Kvitova, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2012, had only gone as far as the third round in Paris in the previous four years and did not compete in the competition in 2019.

But she showed fight and gusto to battle back from a major deficit in the first set and eventually see off Fernandez, who only turned 18 last month.

Kenin was given a lot less to worry about against her Romanian opponent, barely breaking a sweat as she swept past Bara with consummate ease and brought out the party tricks.

KVITOVA RISES TO THE CHALLENGE

A major shock appeared to be on the cards for Fernandez for a while in this contest, as the youngster found herself 5-1 to the good in the opening set.

She even had two set points, but Fernandez – the junior champion at Roland Garros just last year – could not quite hold her nerve.

Kvitova rattled off nine games in succession to impressively rise to the occasion, showing immense willpower and focus to recover from such a deficit and seal the first set.

After consecutive breaks on her serve at the start of the second, Fernandez did hit back with one of her own as she too showed some spirit – but it was too little, too late, as the experienced two-time Wimbledon champion powered to victory with 32 winners to 19.

The challenge she faced was not lost on Kvitova, as she said: "I definitely think that she is really playing a great game. She's a great mover. She catches a lot of balls and if she has a chance, she's really going for it.

"It was really challenging today. I'm really happy I found a way even though it wasn't easy."

Her reward is a meeting with Zhang Shuai, who saw off France's Clara Burel 7-6 (7-2) 7-5.

FLYING KENIN TRIES THE TRICKS

Kenin will take some stopping on this form. The fourth seed was imperious against Bara, winning 6-2 6-0 in one hour and 12 minutes.

The Australian Open champion rattled off 34 winners and achieved an in-match double bagel, winning 12 games on the spin after falling behind to an early break.

"I feel like I'm playing well at the slams," she said. "Obviously I feel like I should get deep in a tournament. I'm a bit hard on myself. It's a little bit different mindset now coming into the slams.

"Towards the end I just started getting a little bit careless. I started like doing drop shots towards the end, like just for fun. I was like, 'why not? Let's just do drop shots'. But then she obviously picked up her game."

Next up for Kenin is Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro, who beat Patricia Maria Tig 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-0.

JABEUR BLAZING A TRAIL AS MUGURUZA CRASHES AND BURNS

Three years after becoming the first Arab woman to reach the third round at a grand slam, Jabeur went one better by booking her place in the last 16.

The Tunisian overcame eighth seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (9-7) 2-6 6-3 out on court 14.

Jabeur took the opener after squandering three set points on serve but lost 15 points in a row at the start of the second, admitting afterwards that keeping calm and carrying on saw her through.

"She was screaming, fighting every point... in some very important points, especially when she got back at 6-6," Jabeur said. "For me, I wanted to stay calm because I had no reason to be angry. I think that helped me a lot today."

Danielle Collins awaits in the next round for Jabeur after the unseeded American produced a shock by eliminating 11th seed and 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza.

In the final match of the day, Muguruza was unable to sustain the level she showed after fighting back from a set down, as Collins progressed 7-5 2-6 6-4 despite finding herself trailing by two breaks in the decider.

Halep landed 75 per cent of her first-serves and won those points at a rate of 82 per cent (27/33).

Martic's serve commanded much less respect, as she landed 69 per cent of her first-serves, but only won 36 per cent of those points (8/22).

After holding in her first service game, Martic allowed Halep to rattle off six consecutive games, with three double-faults assisting her Romanian opponent.

With the win, Halep booked a semi-final matchup against Poland's number three seed Iga Swiatek after she prevailed in her meeting with American Madison Keys in similar fashion.

In her first professional match in almost half a year, world number two Halep, who skipped last week's Palermo Open and will not make a decision on whether to play the US Open or not until after the tournament in the Czech Republic, was made to work hard for victory by the unseeded Hercog.

The Romanian picked up an early break and responded to dropping her serve in game three of the first by reeling off the next four in succession to take the set.

When Halep started the second set by breaking Hercog the writing appeared to be on the wall, but the Slovenian world number 46 fought back valiantly to force a decider in emphatic fashion.

Halep was unable to convert any of the six match points that came her way after breaking for a 5-3 lead, with Hercog clinging on to take the match to a third-set tie-break.

After failing to consolidate an opening mini-break, Hercog's resistance was finally broken after two hours and five minutes when a forehand into the net sent top seed Halep into the second round.

Wildcard Barbora Krejcikova ensured Halep's next match would not be an all-Romanian affair by beating Patricia Maria Tig 6-4 6-3.

Second seed Petra Martic defeated Varvara Gracheva 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 and third seed Elise Mertens needed three sets to overcome Jasmine Paolini 7-5 4-6 6-3.

A number of other seeded players were not as successful. Ekaterina Alexandrova (5) fell to qualifier Lesia Tsurenko, while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (6) went down 7-5 6-2 to Arantxa Rus, and Anastasija Sevastova (9) lost 6-2 6-2 to Irina-Camelia Begu.

Halep was on the brink of a surprise defeat to the in-form world number 45, but hung in there to win a thriller 1-6 6-2 7-6 (9-7) on Wednesday.

The two-time grand slam champion and Jabeur were given great backing from passionate Romanian and Tunisian supporters in a pulsating contest that swung one way and the other.

Halep appeared destined to complete the turnaround with ease when she led 3-0 in the final set, but the tenacious Jabeur was relishing the battle and showed great spirit to take the upper hand at 6-5.

The unseeded Jabeur was broken to love when serving for the match, though, and a double-fault gifted 2015 champion Halep a 4-2 lead in the tie-break, yet there was more drama to come.

Jabeur fended off three match points to earn one of her own, but Halep showed her grit to win the next two points before her gutsy opponent drilled a forehand long to end a tense two-hour contest.

Halep will face Aryna Sabalenka in the last eight after the seventh seed defeated Elise Mertens 6-4 6-3.

Australian Open runner-up Garbine Muguruza advanced with a hard-fought Veronika Kudermetova, winning 7-5 4-6 6-4 two days after knocking out the returning Kim Clijsters.

Elena Rybakina, a three-time finalist this year, got the better of Katerina Siniakova for the second successive week, a 6-3, 6-3 victory setting up a meeting with Karolina Pliskova.

Second seed Pliskova lost just three games in emphatic defeat of Kristina Mladenovic, while Petra Martic, Jennifer Brady and Anett Kontaveit were also victorious.

Hurkacz made it through a tough encounter against Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to give Poland a 2-1 lead in their Group B tie with Switzerland in Brisbane, before Linette came from behind to beat Jil Teichmann 5-7 6-4 6-1 to clinch it.

Poland will face Italy in the Brisbane final, whose 5-0 whitewash of Norway included Matteo Berrettini sealing victory with a 6-4 6-4 win over Casper Ruud.

In Perth, Croatia advanced to the City Finals after a dramatic day that saw Caroline Garcia get France on the board with a straight sets win against Petra Martic, before Adrian Mannarino came from a set down against Borna Gojo to serve for the match as he looked to bring his country level at 2-2.

However, Gojo broke back in a tense encounter before winning a deciding tie-break to send Croatia through to face Greece, who sealed a 4-1 win against Belgium.

Stefanos Sakellaridis recovered from going a set behind to beat Zizou Bergs, before Maria Sakkari overcame Elise Mertens 6-1 7-5, with Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas adding some gloss to the score with a mixed doubles success against Kirsten Flipkens and Michael Geerts. 

Spain and Australia were unable to progress but the hosts at least had the consolation of securing a victory thanks to wins for Jason Kubler against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and the mixed doubles duo of John Peers and Sam Stosur against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and David Vega Hernandez.

The USA had already secured their Finals berth against Great Britain in Sydney, but were ruthless as they finished off their tie against Germany to win 5-0.

After Jessica Pegula beat Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-2, Frances Tiafoe also defeated Oscar Otte in straight sets, before the American duo combined to beat Siegemund and Daniel Altmaier 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 10-7 to complete a clean sweep.

The top seed donned the yellow and blue colours of her homeland for Tuesday's match and eased to a 6-2 6-1 victory in a little over an hour in Mexico.

Svitolina only agreed to play her opener after tennis authorities announced a ban on Russian and Belarussian players competing under the name and flags of their countries.

And as Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its sixth day, the 27-year-old produced an impressive performance that saw her win 73.5 per cent of her first-serve points.

Former world number three Svitolina, who will now face Bulgarian qualifier Viktoriya Tomova, had previously announced she will donate her prize money to the Ukrainian army.

"It's a special one because of what we are going through right now in Ukraine, it's terrifying," Svitolina told reporters. 

"It's been six days and all the Ukrainian tennis players and Ukrainians who are there, we have been really terrified with what is happening.

"For me, playing the match here, I'm not playing only for myself. I'm playing for my country, I'm playing for the help of the Ukrainian army and people in need. 

"I was focused. I was on a mission for my country. From the beginning, it was important to be ready for anything that comes my way."

Petra Martic is also through to round two after recovering from behind to beat third seed Madison Keys 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

Marie Bouzkova awaits following the world number 81's 4-6 6-2 6-4 win against Sara Errani. Number eight seed Ann Li's participation in the tournament came to an end with a 6-2 6-1 loss to Wang Xinyu, who will now face Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Kontaveit overcame top seed Petra Martic 6-2 6-4, before Ferro sank Italian title hopes in Sicily with a 2-6 6-2 7-5 win over Camila Giorgi.

Fourth seed Kontaveit is ranked seven places below world number 15 Martic and she won impressively in an hour and 29 minutes.

The Estonian will be targeting just a second career singles title and a first on clay, having previously won on grass in 2017 at Rosmalen.

She said: "I felt like I played a very good match today. I was quite aggressive, consistent, and I served especially well in the first set. It got a bit close in the end, but I played a good game at 5-4 and I'm happy to be in the final."

Martic called the match "a tough one" and spoke of missing chances to make the scoreline tighter than it became.

Ferro and Giorgi slugged it out for two hours and six minutes before their clash produced a finalist, with the home player falling agonisingly short.

World number 53 Ferro go after her second WTA title. Her first also came on clay at Lausanne in July last year.

The 2020 tennis season was suspended for almost five months amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the women's tour has returned with fans in Italy, socially-distanced crowds having been in attendance all week in Palermo

The Czech left-hander was the last winner of the German tournament, beating Anett Kontaveit in the 2019 final, with last year's event cancelled due to the pandemic.

Kvitova was handed a tough opening assignment against Australian Open runner-up Brady, but the American's streak of defeats since that Melbourne final defeat extended to three as Brady lost 6-4 6-3 in an hour and 32 minutes.

Two-time former Wimbledon champion Kvitova, seeded seventh, picked apart the Brady serve once in each set and fended off three break points across the contest to secure her last-16 place.

She was joined in the second round by powerful Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, as the fifth seed scorched to a 6-2 6-2 win over China's Zhang Shuai.

Earlier, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Kontaveit, Anna Lena Friedsam and Laura Siegemund also went through to the last 16 of the WTA 500 event.

Meanwhile, Fiona Ferro caused a shock at the Istanbul Cup as she landed a 7-5 6-2 first-round win over former champion Petra Martic.

Martic, seeded second this year and ranked 21st in the world, landed the title in Istanbul in 2019 but was rolled over by French player Ferro in an hour and 45 minutes, in a match featuring seven breaks of serve.

Veronika Kudermetova followed her recent maiden title in Charleston with a nerve-jangling first-round win against Bernarda Pera, the fifth seed scrambling through 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-4).

There was no such toil for top seed Elise Mertens, a 6-2 6-0 winner against Lara Arruabarrena, or for Daria Kasatkina, who dished out a 6-1 6-0 drubbing to Tereza Mrdeza.

Kasatkina is seeking her third title of 2021, having won previously in Melbourne and St Petersburg.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bowed out of the WTA 250 event though, beaten 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 by compatriot Anastasia Potapova.

Linette took just 31 minutes to win the first set in Rome, but world number 10 Kvitova responded superbly to win 1-6 6-0 6-2.

Two-time grand slam champion Kvitova racked up 16 unforced errors in the first set, yet rallied like the great competitor she has proved to be for so long to ensure she will face Vera Zvonareva - conqueror of Christina McHale - in the second round.

The 11th seed from the Czech Republic said: "The first set I started very badly. I was missing almost everything. On the court... [the ball] was bouncing everywhere as well. A little bit windy. I just had to get used to probably everything.

"The beginning of the second set when finally I held my serve and broke her serve, I think since then it was much, much better."

French Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced when Alison Riske retired at 5-4 down in the first set due to a recurrence of a left foot injury.

Swiatek, who will take on Sloane Stephens or Madison Keys in the second round, made 18 unforced errors but had won four games in a row from 4-1 down when the American was unable to continue. 

Coco Gauff battled past Yulia Putintseva 7-5 4-6 6-4 to set up a meeting with 17th seed Maria Sakkari  - who fended off qualifier Polona Hercog 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-2.

Amanda Anisimova will do battle with Elina Svitolina, a winner of this tournament twice, after defeating Wang Qiang 7-5 6-3. Jessie Pegula, Jennifer Brady and Petra Martic were among the other winners on day one.

Gauff recorded five breaks of serve as she overcame Italian Camila Giorgi in routine fashion, a 6-2 6-3 triumph securing the third seed a place in the quarter-finals.

The American did have a few issues on her own serve, leading to seven double faults, but ended up winning in one hour and 11 minutes.

Martic, the second seed at the event, was made to work in the first set of her match against Ludmilla Samsonova, both players saving a break point on serve as it went the distance.

There was little to split the pair in the tie-breaker too, Martic edging it 7-5 as she capitalised on her first opportunity to take the set.

The second was more straightforward for the Croatian, an early beak of serve putting her in front before she repeated the trick to wrap up victory in the ninth game.

There were wins in straight sets for fellow seeds Caroline Garcia and Wang Qiang too, as they defeated Anna-Lena Friedsam and Martina Di Giuseppe respectively.

For Garcia, the triumph means a first quarter-final appearance in the 2021 season.

Sorribes Tormo was the only seeded player to exit in the day’s action, the Spaniard forced to retire at 2-2 in the deciding set against Sara Errani due to a problem with her left thigh.

"I'm very sorry for Sara. It was a battle, I know every time we play together it is like this. I was mentally ready to fight, to suffer," Errani said in her on-court interview.

Top seed Serena Williams is already out, beaten in straight sets by Katerina Siniakova to deal the 23-time grand slam champion a further blow ahead of this year's French Open.

Fourth seed Martic made a good start against American opponent Alycia Parks on Wednesday, only to lose 2-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.

Sixth seed Sherif was more convincingly beaten as she fell to Czech teenager Linda Noskova 6-3 6-2.

Noskova will face Camila Osorio in the quarter-finals after the Colombian came out on top in a tight clash with Jule Niemeier 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

In the two remaining first-round matches, Jasmine Paolini defeated Rebeka Masarova 6-3 6-2, while Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck will face top seed Caroline Garcia in the last 16 after beating Tamara Korpatsch 6-2 6-4.

At the Thailand Open, it was not much better for seeded players as Anna Kalinskaya and Linda Fruhvirtova both exited on Wednesday.

Fourth seed Kalinskaya was overwhelmed 6-0 in the opening set against Lesia Tsurenko, only to win a tie-break in the second.

The unseeded Ukrainian ultimately won out, though, sealing a 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 victory to reach the quarter-finals.

Eighth seed Fruhvirtova also managed to level after falling a set behind, and also could not find the win as the 17-year-old was beaten by Tamara Zidansek 6-3 4-6 6-4.

The Slovenian will face Zhu Lin in the last eight after her straight-sets win over Jang Su-jeong, but there was one win for a seed as Xinyu Wang (seventh seed) beat Mirjam Bjorklund 6-3 6-3.

Martic toppled the second seed with a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) victory on Friday.

The unseeded Croatian, who was beaten by eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the fourth round at Wimbledon last week, claimed the only break of the first set to lead 5-3 and held her nerve to serve it out. 

Bencic twice came from a break down in the second set to force a tie-break, but Martic raced into a 6-0 lead and duly moved into the last four.

The 31-year-old Split native will come up against Garcia, who beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4 6-1.

Frenchwoman Garcia also reached the last 16 in the grass-court grand slam at SW19 and has won 11 of her past 12 matches.

Unseeded duo Olga Danilovic and Anastasia Potapova will contest the other semi-final following victories over Simona Waltert and Wimbledon quarter-finalist Jule Niemeier respectively.

At the Budapest Grand Prix, Anna Bondar is through to the last four without dropping a set in her homeland after defeating Martina Trevisan 6-4 6-1.

Ninth seed Bondar will face Bernarda Pera, who beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-4 6-3. Yulia Putintseva had won all eight games before Lesia Tsurenko retired from their quarter-final due to injury and she will take on Aleksandra Krunic, who cruised past Wang Xiyu 6-0 6-1.

World number 69 Pliskova struck 28 winners to 13 unforced errors on home soil as she secured a 6-1 7-5 victory in one hour and 22 minutes.

The Czech wrapped up the opening set in just 21 minutes and Martic paid the price for passing up two opportunities to hold serve at 5-5 in the second.

Pliskova, a runner-up in Prague in 2017, made Martic pay by serving out the match and setting up a meeting with Ana Bogdan, who got a walkover after Lesia Tsurenko withdrew prior to their match.

Mertens ensured Simona Halep is not the only seed remaining in the draw by defeating Camila Giorgi 6-4 6-2, while, in matches held over from Tuesday, Laura Siegemund and Tamara Zidansek wasted little time in wrapping up three-set victories over Mayar Sherif and Katerina Siniakova respectively.

It was not a day off for Halep, though. The Romanian joined forces with Barbora Strycova for a doubles match against Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova that ended in a 6-3 3-6 10-8 loss.

Martic – the tournament's top seed – triumphed 6-0 6-3 in just over an hour as she played for the first time since February, the WTA Tour having been suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The clay-court event in Italy has seen action resume on the Tour, though world number two Simona Halep withdrew before the event started due to travel concerns.

Her absence is a boost for Martic's hopes of success, with the Croatian showing few signs of rustiness against Van Uytvanck.

"I think I felt my nerves a little bit more, because the break was so long," Martic told media via video chat.

"It's such a big uncertainty going on the court not knowing how you're going to be.

"I played well before the break, so I was happy with the rhythm, but obviously five months off disrupts everything. Once the match started, I kind of let go and just played."

Anett Kontaveit also progressed in straight sets, the fourth seed winning the final six games to record a 6-3 6-3 victory over Patricia Maria Tig in a late finish.

However, there were some big-name casualties on Tuesday.

Marketa Vondrousova won the opening set with ease, yet the second seed slipped up after such an impressive start, serving up double faults during her 1-6 7-5 6-4 defeat to Kaja Juvan.

Elise Mertens, the fifth seed, is also out. The Belgian went down 6-4 6-1 to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.