CHARLESTON — Swiss ninth seed Belinda Bencic made a strong start to her claycourt season with a 6-3, 6-0 win over qualifier Destanee Aiava to reach the second round of the Charleston Open in South Carolina Monday.

Bencic broke Aiava at love to open the match, one of the six break points she converted, and was never really tested as the 18-year-old Australian made 24 unforced errors.

Aiava did well to fight off one match point but then double-faulted the next time the match was on the line to hand Bencic victory in 56 minutes.

Up next for the world No. 21 at the green-clay event will be American Allie Kiick, who beat Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier 6-3 6-0.

Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, a runner-up here in 2017, dropped the opening game of her match but quickly righted the ship and dominated the rest of the way in a 6-1, 6-4 win over Swede Johanna Larsson.

Latvian Ostapenko had seven double faults in the match but rounded into form as the match wore on before clinching the win by firing down an ace.

She will next face American Shelby Rogers, who was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina in her first match back after being sidelined for more than a year by a knee injury.

Such was her relief at being fit and back on court again, Rogers succumbed to tears after winning the opening set.

“It’s kind of embarrassing to be honest,” the 26-year-old Charleston native told reporters.

“It was a great moment, I enjoyed every second of it — even when I got broken. That’s part of it. It’s all those feelings I missed so much. The adrenaline, the nerves, the excitement, everything. You can’t recreate that outside of the arena.”

Top seed Sloane Stephens will be in action Tuesday when she faces Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo in second round action, while defending champion Kiki Bertens, the second seed, plays Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan.

Murray returns to court

after hip surgery

Andy Murray has returned to a tennis court two months after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery.

Murray, who has not played competitively since his first round exit at the Australian Open in January, said last month he could possibly play at Wimbledon as he was now pain free after the surgery.

The 31-year-old posted a short video on Instagram, where he was seen hitting the ball in an outdoor court while rallying with a wall with a caption, “It’s a start.”

Murray had said he was not sure he could play in the singles draw at Wimbledon, a tournament he has won twice, but targeted a possible return in doubles at this year’s tournament as it put less stress on his hip.

The three-times Grand Slam champion compared his situation to that of American doubles player Bob Bryan who returned to the court 5-1/2 months after a similar procedure.

This year’s Wimbledon begins on July 1. — Reuters