Azarenka breezes past Cornet

World number one Victoria Azarenka rattled off 12 games in a row to breeze past Alize Cornet in the first round of the China Open.

The Belarusian dropped the opener to the Frenchwoman but then produced an unblemished display to triumph 6-1 6-0.

It was her first match since withdrawing from the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last week.

"I hadn't really been practising at all. I knew when I went out there I wouldn't be playing perfectly," Azarenka told www.wtatennis.com.

"I was just trying to find my rhythm, feel the atmosphere and go for my shots, and I think I responded pretty well after dropping that game. I bounced back really well. Everything worked for me."

Azarenka was followed through by world number two Maria Sharapova although the Russian had to work much harder for her 7-5 7-5 win over Simona Halep.

"Certainly the scoreline was quite difficult, but I was up in those two sets and let her get back into it," Sharapova said.

"I put myself in a position in both sets, going up a break, and it wasn't the best thing to let her back in - but the good thing was I regained my focus and won that match, no matter how well she was playing and coming back. At the end of the day I'm happy I won in two sets."

Caroline Wozniacki required three sets to beat Chanelle Scheepers while there were also first-round wins for Sabine Lisicki, Sorana Cirstea, Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino and Polona Hercog.

In round two action, fourth seed Petra Kvitova was ousted 6-3 6-2 by Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro.

Czech Kvitova was seemingly hampered by a leg injury and her opponent took full advantage.

Also through to round three are 11th seed Ana Ivanovic, a 4-6 7-5 6-1 winner against Varvara Lepchenko, and qualifier Elena Vesnina, who beat Tamira Paszek 7-6 (7/5) 6-2.