Kiki Bertens safely through to second round in Gstaad

Second seed Kiki Bertens secured her place in round two of the WTA Ladies Championship Gstaad.

The Dutchwoman, ranked 35th in the world, saw off Serbian Aleksandra Krunic 6-3 6-1.

Number four seed Mona Barthel, however, suffered an early exit when t he German world number 50 lost 4-6 6-3 6-3 to Maria Sakkari of Greece.

There was, though, no such drama for her compatriot Carina Witthoeft, the sixth seed securing her place in the second round with a 6-3 7-6 (7/5) win over Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinosa.

Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova also progressed following a 6-3 6-4 victory against Serbian Nina Stojanovic, while American Louisa Chirico defeated Czech qualifier Tereza Smitkova 7-6 (7/5) 6-4.

German Anna Zaja set up a second-round clash against Bertens after she beat Patricia Maria Tig of Romania 6-2 6-3.