China Open is being held in Beijing. The host nation's Zheng Jie was out in the first round on Monday. Zheng was upset by 20-year-old Lara Vecino from Spain. Although her opponent is more than 60 places behind, Zheng was at passive from the start to the end, being outclassed 6-2, 6-4. Elsewhere, No.1 seed Victoria Azarenka had a clean sweep, beating Alize Cornet 6-1, 6-0, advancing to the 2nd round.

Maria Sharapova is also through. She had a tough win over Romania's Simona Halep. And China's Li Na took on Francesca Schiavone in the first round of the China Open on Sunday. Li is expected to become the first Chinese to win the tournament in Beijing. The seventh seed featured her quick and aggressive style on the center court, breaking Schiavone in the first game of the night.

Li slumped to an embarrassing straight-sets defeat to Romania's Monica Niculescu in front of her home fans last year. But the Chinese, dominating the court on every aspect, duly closed out the first set 6-2 to take the initiative.

The home favorite remained competitive and cruised to a 2-0 lead in the second set. Li needs a strong showing this week to secure her position in the WTA Championships next month. She didn't waste time, closing out the match 6-2, 6-3 to set up a marquee match-up against Pan Pacific Open champion Nadia Petrova.

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