The 2014 and 2016 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open champion Petra Kvitova victoriously opened her 2019 campaign after a first-round bye, while Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber both fell to unseeded opponents in the first round on Monday.
After a less than perfect US Open Series, which saw her play only two tournaments because of a left forearm injury, the fifth-seeded Kvitova edged Polona Hercog 7-6(6) 6-3 by winning a tightly-contested opening set that featured no break points and then cruising through the second set.
Seed No.13 Caroline Wozniacki won the first tiebreaker but was overwhelmed by Hsieh Su-Wei in the second and third sets as the unseeded player from Chinese Taipei advanced with a 6-7(2) 6-1 6-2 win.