Dhaka, Jan. 30 -- No. 2 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium needed just 55 minutes to beat Taylor Townsend 6-1, 6-0 in first-round action at the Singapore Tennis Open on Tuesday.
Mertens faced six break points but saved them all, while converting 5 of 8 opportunities to break Townsend's serve. Mertens moves on to face Germany's Tatjana Maria, who was a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 winner over Ukrainian foe Yuliia Starodubtseva.
No. 5 seed Polina Kudermetova of Russia also played a quick match, but she came out on the losing end as Australian Kimberly Birrell prevailed 6-3, 6-2 in 61 minutes.
No. 4 seed Xinyu Wang of China defeated Canadian Rebecca Marino 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, while Olivia Gadecki of Australia upset Japanese eighth seed Moyuka Uchijima 6-1, 6-7 (1),...