Samantha Stosur is through to the second round of Tianjin Open in China after seeing off local favourite Zhaoxuan Yang 7-5 2-6 6-2.

The former US Open champion, who was handed a wildcard for the tournament, will now face sixth-seeded Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.

Putintseva.survived a second-set scare to overcome Australia’s Astra Sharma 6-1 1-6 7-5.

Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson pulled off a shock win over former world No.1 Venus Williams.

The 24-year-old got the better of a match featuring 14 breaks of serve to win 6-3 4-6 6-3 in just over two hours.

French Fourth seed Caroline Garcia also had to fight for victory, coming from behind to triumph 2-6 6-2 6-2 over Anastasia Potapova of Russia.

The Chinese fans were cheered by Yafan Wang who beat Lauren Davis of the United States 6-0 6-4.

Britain’s Heather Watson booked her place in round two with a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) win over Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine.