Defending champion Begu advances to 2nd round at Korea Open

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Top seed and defending champion Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania overpowered local Jang Su-jeong 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the second round of the Korea Open on Tuesday.

Begu dominated the South Korean wild card with powerful groundstrokes for her first match win since the start of August, when she won her third career title in Florianopolis. In ending a four-match losing streak, including at the Olympics and U.S. Open, Begu lined up Jana Cepelova of Slovakia, a semifinalist in Tokyo last week.

Second-seeded Johanna Larsson of Sweden rallied to beat Grace Min of the United States 0-6, 6-2, 6-2, and third-seeded Zhang Shuai of China outlasted Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Fourth-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France beat qualifier Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand 6-2, 7-5.