PLAYING her first match as the No. 1-ranked player in women’s tennis, Angelique Kerber dropped the first set before recovering to beat Kristina Mladenovic 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4 yesterday to reach the third round of the Wuhan Open.

    Kerber replaced Serena Williams atop the rankings with her run to the U.S. Open title, and then took time off before heading to China to start her Asian swing in Wuhan, where she had a bye in the first round.

    The 28-year-old German didn’t face a breakpoint in the second and third sets as she set up a third-round match against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Elina Svitolina.

    Mladenovic “was playing very well today, especially in the first set,” Kerber said. “The first match is always tough. But I’m happy to be back in China and to have won my first match here.”

    Defending champion Venus Williams broke Yulia Putintseva’s serve seven times in a 6-3, 6-2 win that earned her a third-round match against No. 9-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat Madison Brengle, 6-0, 6-4.

    No. 3-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska won eight of the last nine games in a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ekaterina Makarova to notch her first win in three trips to the Wuhan tournament.

    Radwanska has had success elsewhere in Asia over the last two seasons, picking up titles in Shenzhen, Tianjin, Tokyo and at the season-ending WTA championships in Singapore last year.

    “I just hope I can play some more great tennis in China,” Radwanska said.

    In other second-round matches yesterday, 8th-seeded Madison Keys had a 6-3, 6-4 win over Caroline Garcia, Yaroslava Shvedova ousted No. 13 Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-2 and Barbora Strycova rallied to beat Misaki Doi 5-7, 6-0, 6-2.

    On Monday, former French Open finalist Simona Halep took less than 70 minutes to reach the third round of the Wuhan Open, advancing when fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu retired in the second set of their second-round match.

    Halep was leading 6-3, 2-0 when Begu retired with a back injury amid warm and humid conditions in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province. The No. 4 seed, who skipped the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last week because of a hamstring strain, had a first-round bye.

    Also, seventh-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro beat Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-4, 6-3; and U.S. Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, the fifth seed, saw off fellow Czech Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-5

    In first-round matches, 2014 champion Petra Kvitova opened with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Jelena Ostapenko and set up a meeting with Elina Svitolina, who rallied from a break down in the third set to beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

    “This was the fourth time we’ve played this season and I’m glad now it’s 2-2,” Kvitova said.

    (SD-Agencies)