Agnieszka Radwanska began the defence of her Tianjin Open title with a dominant 6-1 6-2 win over Tatjana Maria on Wednesday.

Radwanska dropped just 18 games in five matches as she romped to overall victory 12 months ago, and - having secured China Open success last week - looked keen to pick up where she left off this time around, racing into a 5-0 first-set lead.

World number 109 Maria had no answer to the Pole, opening up a solitary break point, which Radwanska saved in the final game as she took five match points to secure progression to the second round, where Evgeniya Rodina awaits.

Wednesday's other matches were second-round contests, with number-two seed Svetlana Kuznetsova among those to earn a quarter-final spot.

The Russian beat Croatian Donna Vekic 7-5 6-4 as the 20-year-old's erratic serve produced five aces but resulted in just 44 per cent of first serves landing in.

Naomi Osaka is next on Kuznetsova's agenda after beating Lucie Hradecka 6-2 7-6 (7-4).

Danka Kovinic and Han Xinyun also progressed to the last eight with victories on Wednesday.