BEIJING, Sept 30 — Unseeded Australian Daria Gavrilova upset fifth seed Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, 6-2 6-1 in the first round of the China Open yesterday as Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic showed stunning powers of recovery to pull off her own shock win over sixth seed Elina Svitolina.

Kvitova was undermined by her own inconsistency, making 39 unforced errors, while Gavrilova made just 12.

“Petra is a really tough opponent. It was a little bit tricky ... but I felt like I took my chances and I served really well today,” said Gavrilova, who landed 81 per cent of her first serves.

Krunic staged a remarkable rally in Beijing, after trailing by a set and a break, to beat Svitolina 0-6 6-4 7-6(4) for her first victory over the Ukrainian on her third attempt.

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Krunic lost the first nine games of the match and trailed by a break three times in the final set, clawing herself back to level terms on each occasion before winning a dramatic tiebreak.

Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko was given a tough examination by Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova but held her nerve, claiming six points in a row in another tense tiebreak to win 6-4 7-6(3) and will next face Chinese wild card Wang Qiang.

Briton Johanna Konta was beaten by 10th seed Julia Goerges, of Germany, 6-2 4-6 6-3.

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Goerges sent down 12 aces and struck 42 winners, while making 29 unforced errors as she sealed victory in two hours and 15 minutes. — Reuters