Dinara Safina and Serena Williams both made it through to the second round of the China Open.
World number one and two make it through in Beijing
Dinara Safina and Serena Williams both made it through to the second round of the China Open, keeping their battle to top the WTA rankings alive.
Current world number one Safina made an unconvincing start to the tournament, as she defeated Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-4.
The 23-year-old was broken early in both sets but managed to hit back immediately, eventually gaining the victory in just under 90 minutes.
The win restores some pride for Safina, who suffered an embarrassing second round defeat to Taiwanese qualifier Chang Kai-chen in last week's Pan Pacific Open.
"There is still room for improvement in my game," Safina said.
"She's not an easy one to play, you have to really pick the right shot to go for it. She has a great touch."
The Russian will next face Chinese wild card Zhang Shuai in the second round, knowing she must at least match Williams' progress in China to retain her number one spot.
Super Serena
Williams, meanwhile, advanced in Beijing with a 7-5 6-4 win over Kaia Kanepi.
The world number two surrendered a few early service breaks before steadying herself, eventually forcing the Estonian to send a sliced backhand into the net to bring an end to the first set.
The American, 28, sealed the victory when she broke the world number 48 for the fifth time in the 10th game of a tight second set.
Williams will face Ekaterina Makarova in the second round, after the Russian beat Israel's Shahar Peer 6-4 6-2 to make it through.
Elsewhere in the tournament, Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova beat China's Zheng Jie 7-6 (7-3) 7-5, despite falling behind early in both sets.
Russian seventh seed Vera Zvonareva beat Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-2 6-2 and Switzerland's Patty Schnyder got past Poland's Urszula Radwanska 6-4 7-5. Victoria Azarenka - the ninth seed from Belarus - also advanced, defeating compatriot Olga Govortsova 6-1 6-3.
