Defending champion Novak Djokovic in action during his opening match
© PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images
BEIJING (AP) -- Top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia opened defense of his China Open title on Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Gong Maoxin of China to ease into the second round.
Djokovic, ranked No. 2 in the world after a runner-up finish at the US Open, won 87 percent on his first serve points and took just 1 hour, 11 minutes to beat Gong.
Britain's Andy Murray, the No. 2 seed, also had an easy win, beating Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-2, 6-3.
Murray served up 10 aces to beat Mathieu, once ranked as high 12th in the world but who had to qualify for the main draw after a series of injuries.
Sweden's Robin Soderling, a French Open finalist, and Nikolay Davydenko of Russia are the other top-ranked men's players in the tournament.
In other first round matches Tuesday, Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-4, 6-4, and Spain's Nicolas Almagro defeated Lukasz Kubot of Poland 7-5, 6-2.
In the second round of women's singles, 14th-ranked Shahar Peer of Israel beat Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2, while Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic defeated Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 7-5, 6-7, 6-2.