Scheepers among first-day winners in Guangzhou

Published November 20, 2014

Defending champion Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa was among the winners Monday on the first day of play at the Guangzhou International.

The fifth-seeded Scheepers captured her maiden WTA title last year, beating Magdalena Rybarikova in the final. On Monday, she opened defense of that crown with a 6-0, 6-3 rout of Chinese wild card Wang Qiang.

Other first-round winners Monday included Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski, Luxembourg's Mandy Minella and rising British star Laura Robson.

Jovanovski cruised past Hungary's Timea Babos, 6-1, 6-3, while Minella went the distance in a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier. Robson held a 6-2, 3-1 advantage over Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor when the Spaniard retired because of a left thigh strain.

The 18-year-old Robson is playing for the first time since her run to the fourth round at the U.S. Open, where she sent Kim Clijsters into retirement with a second-round win and followed with an upset of China's Li Na before falling to Samantha Stosur.

First-round play continues Tuesday with top-seeded Marion Bartoli of France and 2010 Guangzhou winner Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia in action. Bartoli will take on Taiwan lucky loser Kai-Chen Chang, while Gajdosova will meet Thailand's Nudnina Luangnam.

The winner of this WTA International event will earn a first prize of $37,000.

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