Ajla Tomljanovic has set up a first-ever meeting with fellow Australian Priscilla Hon after a straight-sets victory over Stefanie Voegele at the Korea Open in Seoul.
Tomljanovic, fresh from reaching the semi-finals of the WTA event in Zhengzhou last week, coasted past Swiss player Voegele 6-0 6-2 and now faces Hon, who opened her campaign with a 6-3 6-4 win over Mihaela Buzarnescu.
Australian No.2 Tomljanovic lost to Kiki Bertens in the final of last year’s tournament and Hon – whose win was her third straight in Seoul after two qualifying victories – expects a tough second-round battle against her compatriot.
“She’s (Tomljanovic) in really good form, did really well last week,” Hon told tennis.com.au.
“I’ve trained with her and I know her game and style of play, so it’s obviously going to be a tough one.”
Elsewhere in Seoul, qualifier Timea Babos upset former champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-3 while third seed Karolina Muchova battled past Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4 3-6 6-2.
Top seed Maria Sakkari was forced to withdraw because of a right wrist injury, and lucky loser Danka Kovini was defeated 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-3) by Romanian qualifier Patricia Maria Tig, who continued her impressive return from maternity leave.
Sixth seeded Polona Hercog is out after a 6-3 3-6 6-1 loss against Ana Bogdan.
Also on Tuesday, defending champion Qiang Wang suffered a surprise first-round exit at the Guangzhou Open in China following a straight-sets defeat by wildcard Shuai Peng.
The world No.12 was beaten 7-5 6-2 by her compatriot, who had reached the semi-finals in Nanchang last week.
Top seed Elina Svitolina, though, had little trouble as the Ukrainian world No.3 coasted past Dalila Jakupovic 6-3 6-3.
American third-seeded Sofia Kenin beat Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-4 6-2 and fourth seed Shuai Zhang progressed 6-2 6-4 against Kateryna Kozlova.
There were also first-round wins for China’s Saisai Zheng, coming through in three sets against her doubles partner Duan Yingying, and Czech fifth seed Katerina Siniakova, who saw opponent Elena Rybakina retire when trailing 6-1 3-1.
In Japan at the Pan Pacific Open, fifth seed Madison Keys booked safe passage into round two with a straight-sets win over Daria Kasatkina, the American defeating her Russian opponent 6-3 6-4.
Croatian seventh seed Donna Vekic, beat Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 7-5 6-2, but eighth seed Katarzyna Kawa is out after her 6-4 7-6 (7-4) loss to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei saved a match point in her 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 victory over former world No.1 Garbine Muguruza.