Wuhan, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Fourth seed Maria Sharapova was a come- from-behind second-round winner, while her fellow top-10 stars Agnieszka Radwanska and Ana Ivanovic came up losers at the $2.44 million inaugural Wuhan Tennis Open.
The former world No. 1 and reigning French Open champion Sharapova overcame two-time Grand Slam titlist and fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, while another second-rounder saw France's Caroline Garcia follow up her first-round victory over Venus Williams by toppling the fifth-seeded Radwanska 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7) on the hardcourts at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center.
Meanwhile, Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was leading the ninth-seeded former No. 1 Ivanovic 7-5, 6-5 when the Serb retired on Day 2. A weary Ivanovic was fresh off her title in Tokyo on Sunday.
In other opening-round action involving seeds, No. 10 and former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic beat American Christina McHale 6-4, 6-4; No. 11 Sara Errani doused Brit Heather Watson 7-5, 6-4; American Madison Keys was leading No. 12 Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 4-6, 6-3 when the 2014 Australian Open runner-up retired; German Sabine Lisicki dismissed No. 14 Czech Lucie Safarova 7-5, 2-6, 6-3; and Aussie qualifier Jarmila Gajdosova drove out No. 15 Flavia Pennetta 6-1, 6-4.
Last week's Guangzhou, China, runner-up Alize Cornet whipped Swiss Romina Oprandi 6-2, 6-1, while last week's Seoul champion Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic erased former U.S. Open champ Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.
Other opening-round wins came for American Coco Vandeweghe, German Mona Barthel, Swiss Timea Bacsinszky, Aussie Casey Dellacqua, and Spaniards Carla Suarez Navarro and Garbine Muguruza.
Several stars will take to the courts for second-round action on Tuesday, including current world No. 1 Serena Williams, French Open runner-up Simona Halep, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard, and former top-ranked star and last week's Tokyo runner-up Caroline Wozniacki.
The U.S. Open champ Serena will take on Cornet, while Halep will meet Muguruza, Kvitova will battle Italian qualifier Karin Knapp, Bouchard will be opposed by Barthel, and Wozniacki will tangle with Suarez Navarro.
Serena is currently riding a 12-match winning streak, capturing titles at her last two events at the U.S. Open and in Cincinnati.
Also on Tuesday, Jankovic will face Vandeweghe and Errani will encounter American Alison Riske.
Almost all the WTA's top-20 players are in Wuhan, with the notable exception of hometown favorite Li Na, who announced her retirement last Friday.
The first-ever Wuhan champion will pocket $441,000.
