Evergreen Vinci through in Qatar, Errani advances
US Open runner-up Roberta Vinci was too strong for Lesia Tsurenko in Qatar on Monday.
Roberta Vinci celebrated moving into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time by coasting to a first-round victory against Lesia Tsurenko in the Qatar Open.
The experienced Italian is up to 10th in the world and demonstrated how she has reached such heady heights on Monday, as Tsurenko was beaten 6-2 6-1 in just 64 minutes.
Ninth seed Vinci did not face a solitary break point in a one-sided match and grasped five of the 12 break-point opportunities that came her way to ease into the second round.
Tsurenko saved four break points in the first game to hold, but Vinci kept the pressure on and won four games in a row to close out the first set before dominating the second to set up a meeting with Daria Kasatkina.
Vinci's compatriot Sara Errani started her quest to win a second successive title by fighting back to beat Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6 7-5 6-3.
Errani claimed the biggest title of her career when she beat Barbora Strycova in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday, but was in danger of being brought back down to earth two days later.
Outsider Pironkova lost just three points on serve in the first set and broke twice to take a surprise lead, but found herself 4-0 down in the second before breaking back twice, only for Errani to avoid a tie-break by breaking for a third time.
The 16th seed then edged the decider to remain in contention to claim the winning prize money of $518,500.
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki needed nine match points to finally overcome qualifier Ana Konjuh 4-6 6-3 7-5.
Elena Vesnina claimed a surprise win over Caroline Garcia, while Elina Svitolina, seeded 15, suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Denisa Allertova.
There were victories for Svetlana Kuznetsova, Timea Bacsinszky, Jelena Jankovic, Monica Niculescu and Coco Vandeweghe.
Timea Babos, Daria Gavrilova, Nao Hibino and Strycova were also winners on day two of the tournament.