Aussie No.1 falls early on grass and AO champ follows

World No.16 Daria Kasatkina's baseline game was matched by the 49th-ranked Chinese blow for blow and she was beaten in 67 minutes.

The Australian No.1's exit was not the only surprise in Germany with Naomi Osaka and Madison Keys also beaten. 

Four-time major winner Osaka tumbled out after Russia's Liudmila Samsonova battled from a set down to win 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.

It was a disappointing start to the former world No.1's grass season, with Wimbledon in just under two weeks. The 27-year-old Japanese had won her first title in May in almost two years following a maternity break.

Current Australian Open champion and seventh seed Keys also suffered an early exit, with Czech Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, moving into the next round with a 7-5 7-6 (8-6) win.

Vondrousova, who had been out for three months earlier this year with a shoulder injury, will face Diana Shnaider in the round of 16 after the 21-year-old Russian overran Croatia's Donna Vekic 6-2 6-4.

with Reuters