Putintseva, Mladenovic win 1st-round matches at Astana Open

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (AP) — Yulia Putintseva and Kristina Mladenovic were among the winners in the first-round matches on a day of few surprises at the Astana Open on Tuesday.

Top-seeded Putintseva started her bid to win the WTA's only event in her home nation of Kazakhstan with little fuss as she beat Ekaterine Gorgodze 6-1, 6-2. She will meet Vera Lapko in the second round.

Seeded third, French player Mladenovic had a tougher time as she needed nearly three hours to defeat local wild card Anna Danilina 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4. She's up against Anastasia Potapova in the second round.

The only one of the six seeded players in action to lose was fourth-seeded Greet Minnen, beaten 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 by Kaja Juvan.

Ana Konjuh beat Urszula Radwanska 7-6 (6), 6-1, Rebecca Peterson won 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 against Stefanie Voegele and Clara Burel was leading 5-2 in the first set when her opponent Mandy Minella retired.

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