Tianjin, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and American Alison Riske were among the first-round winners Monday at the inaugural Tianjin Open.
The third-seeded 17-year-old Bencic earned a 7-5, 6-2 victory over China's Zhu Lin, while the sixth-seeded Riske notched a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey on the hardcourts at Tianjin International Tennis Center.
Bencic was a surprise quarterfinalist at the U.S. Open this summer, but followed with a second-round loss in Tokyo and last week's first-round exit in Beijing. She will next play Swiss countrymate Romina Oprandi, who advanced Monday with a double-bagel win over wild card Wu Ho Ching of Hong Kong.
Riske will next meet Olga Govortsova after the native of Belarus topped former Grand Slam champion Francesca Schiavone, 7-5, 6-4.
It's been a rough year for Schiavone. The 2010 French Open champ from Italy lost in the first round of each Grand Slam championship and has been eliminated in the first round of the last four WTA events.
Other winners Monday included Romania's Sorana Cirstea and Chinese natives Liu Fangzhou and Duan Ying-Ying.
The top seeds for this week's tournament are Serbia's Jelena Jankovic and China's Peng Shuai. The top-seeded former world No. 1 Jankovic will open her stay Tuesday against Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva and the second-seeded Peng will take on Israeli qualifier Shahar Peer.
This week's winner will claim $43,000.
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