Australian No.2 Ajla Tomljanovic has been handed a fortunate path into the second round of the China Open after home favourite Qiang Wang retired hurt.
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Tomljanovic was trailing 7-5 5-4 when the world No.16 pulled the pin much to the despair of the Beijing crowd.
Tomljanovic wlll now face wily American Alison Riske, who beat Ashleigh Barty en route to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, for a place in the round of 16.
World No.1 Barty will face Yulia Putintseva in the second round later this week.
Japan's two-time grand slam winner Naomi Osaka produced scowls rather than smiles despite reaching the second round with a straight-sets win.
Osaka, fresh off her title triumph at the Pan Pacific Open, struck 26 winners in a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory over American Jessica Pegula, only to complain about the way she had played.
"During tournaments, the first match is always the worst for me," Osaka said.
"But I was kind of expecting it to be better because I just played really well in Tokyo (Osaka).
"I don't know, I thought it would carry on. I was a little bit frustrated that I felt my game wasn't really where I left it. I just felt like today I was really riled up, not really sure why."
Reigning Wimbledon champion Simona Halep showed no signs of the back injury that forced her out of Wuhan Open last week as she raced past qualifier Rebecca Peterson 6-1 6-1.
Third seed Elina Svitolina recovered from a sloppy start to beat last year's Beijing runner-up, Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, 6-7(7-4) 6-1 6-2.
Venus Williams came back from a break down in the final set to overcome Barbora Strycova 6-3 4-6 7-5
Australian Associated Press
