SEOUL — Third-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova advanced to the second round of the Korea Open by beating Mai Hontama 6-3, 6-1 on Monday.
The 22nd-ranked Russian will next play Yanina Wickmayer, who defeated Liang en-Shou 6-3, 6-4.
Also, Claire Liu of the United States beat Ku Yeon-woo 6-3, 6-3, Polina Kudermetova eliminated sixth-seeded Alycia Parks 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, and seventh-seeded Arantxa Rus defeated Han Na-lae 6-1, 6-3.
Top-seeded Jessica Pegula will play her opening match against Viktoria Hruncakova on Tuesday.
In other matches, Lucia Bronzetti defeated Guo Hanyu 7-5, 6-1, Jasmine Paolini beat Moyuka Uchijima 6-2, 6-3, and Lesia Tsurenko beat Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-2.
Top-seeded players Maria Sakkari and Ons Jabeur received a bye in the first round.