Samantha Stosur has safely negotiated the first round of the WTA tournament in Osaka with a straight-sets victory over Sweden’s Johanna Larsson.

The third-seeded Australian took just 68 minutes to account for the world No.85, winning 6-4 6-2 at the hardcourt tournament in Japan’s third-largest city.

Stosur was in control throughout, not facing a single break point on her serve and needing to convert just three of her nine break-point opportunities.

The 29-year-old Stosur, who won the inaugural edition of the Osaka tournament in 2009, will take on American Lauren Davis or Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in the second round.

In other opening-round results, Japan’s Misaki Doi beat Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1 6-2, fifth-seeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada downed American Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 6-0, No.8 seed Monica Puig of Puerto Rica accounted for Britain’s Heather Watson 6-4 6-4 and local player Kurumi Nara defeated Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-2.

It is a welcome improvement for Stosur after her opening-round exit last week to Czech Lucie Safarova at the China Open in Beijing.

Stosur effectively moved to second position in the Osaka seedings after the withdrawal of top-ranked Serb Jelena Jankovic, a 6-2 6-2 loser to world No.1 Serena Williams in the China final.