Tianjin, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Americans Varvara Lepchenko and Alison Riske were among the second-round winners Wednesday at the inaugural Tianjin Open.
The fourth-seeded Lepchenko battled past Chinese wild card Liu Fangzhou, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, and will next play Riske in the quarterfinals. The sixth-seeded Riske advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
Lepchenko is coming off a runner-up finish at the Korea Open last month.
Eighth-seeded Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia also moved on with a 6-4, 6-4 win over China's Duan Ying-Ying and Romania's Sorana Cirstea thumped Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-0.
Also Wednesday, Swiss third seed Belinda Bencic was given a walkover into the quarters when countrymate Romina Oprandi withdrew.
Top seeds Jelena Jankovic and Peng Shuai will play second-round matches Thursday. The top-seeded Jankovic will meet China's Zheng Saisai, while Peng will take on Russian qualifier Elizaveta Kulichkova.
This week's winner will claim $43,000.
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