BEIJING — Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray advanced to the second round of the China Open with straight-set wins Tuesday in back-to-back matches on center court.
Nadal needed little more than an hour to beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-1, 6-1, fending off two break points as he took time to get his serve under control in the first set.
The 2005 China Open champion, seeded second in Beijing, improved his first-service percentage from 42 to 85 in the second set.
Murray defeated Andreas Seppi 6-2, 7-5 in the next match, dropping serve once in the second set.
Murray, who took over the No. 1 seeding when Novak Djokovic withdrew from the tournament, is playing at the China Open for the third time. He reached the quarterfinals in his debut and then the semifinals.
"I thought I did OK considering I hadn't played much the past couple of weeks," said Murray, who has been struggling with a shoulder injury. "But there was some good stuff in there. With each match, I'll play better hopefully. No injuries. Felt fine. Just need matches now."
Also, Alexander Zverev eliminated fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, and Jack Sock beat Chinese wild-card entry Zhang Ze 6-3, 7-5 in other men's matches.
Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic fired 23 aces to down Florian Mayer 6-4, 7-6 (6/1) in the first round.
Meanwhile on the women's side, double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova — fresh from her victory at the Wuhan Open last week — showed little mercy for home hope Wang Yafan beating her 6-4, 6-1 to reach the round of 16.
Dominika Cibulkova — who reached a career-high ranking of eight on Monday after reaching the finals of the Wuhan Open last week — fell to France's Alize Cornet 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the second round.
Cibulkova's loss means that Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova qualify for the eight-player WTA Final in Singapore.
The points-based qualification system has already guaranteed world No. 1 Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams and Simona Halep a spot in the lucrative season finale.
World No. 5 Halep dispatched Germany's Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 6-2 in just under an hour and was joined in the next round by former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Roberta Vinci 6-3 6-2, and Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, who overcame Japan's Misaki Doi 6-1 7-5.
Kyrgios, Monfils thru
In Tokyo, with temperatures soaring, Nick Kyrgios made sure an injured fan at the Japan Open had plenty of water.
The sixth-seeded Australian advanced to the second round by beating American qualifier Ryan Harrison 7-5, 6-2, but the match was suspended for about 10 minutes in the first set after a fan fell on some steps in the stands.
Kyrgios, often criticized for his volatile behavior, sent some water up to the injured spectator while temperatures rose to 31 degrees Celsius at the start of the second set.
Kyrgios will next face Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, who beat Stephane Robert 6-2, 6-1.
Second-seeded Gael Monfils also advanced, defeating Japanese wild-card entry Yuichi Sugita 6-3, 6-1.
The Frenchman had six aces, and dropped only nine points on serve. Monfils will next face Davis Cup teammate Gilles Simon, who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 7-5, 4-6, 6-0.
Fifth-seeded David Goffin defeated another Japanese wildcard, Yoshihito Nishioka, and will next face Jiri Vesely. Goffin won 7-5, 6-2, while Vesely defeated Kevin Anderson 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Seventh-seeded Ivo Karlovic beat Federico Delbonis 7-6 (6), 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5).
Feliciano Lopez was the only loser among the seeded players, retiring because of illness when trailing 4-2 in the third set. The eighth-seeded Spaniard won the first set 7-6 (5), but Duckworth took the second 7-6 (4).
Duckworth will next face Juan Monaco of Argentina.
