Wang Qiang's Adelaide International campaign came to a premature end as the world No. 28 was soundly beaten by three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round of the inaugural tournament on Monday. 

Wang stormed into the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open last week but failed to replicate her recent fine form in Adelaide, where the Chinese star struggled to cope with the German's blistering groundstrokes and agile movements.  

Kerber certainly learned the lesson from her lackluster display at Brisbane last week when he fell at the first hurdle after a rout by Samantha Stosur. The number nine seed didn't take her foot off the pedal throughout this encounter and clinched her first victory of 2020 in just one hour and 23 minutes. Wang, a U.S. Open quarter-finalist last year, had to accept that the better player had won. 

"The first set, I played well and I felt good. The second set was really tight," Kerber said. "It's my first win this year, so I'm really happy about that. Hopefully I can play like today in the next round." 

Next up for Kerber is world number 24 Dayana Yastremska, who is considered one of the brightest Ukrainian youngsters.  

"We know each other very well. It will be another tough opponent, but I'm ready and I hope it's going to be a good match," Kerber said of the 19-year-old Yastremska. 

Meanwhile, Croatian-born Australian star Ajla Tomljanovic beat Kazakh qualifier Yulia Putintseva 7-6(4), 6-2 and set up a date with Wimbledon champion Simona Halep in the second round. 

Top-ranked Swiss player Belinda Bencic overwhelmed former Indian Wells finalist Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 6-4, while American seventh-seed Sofia Kenin swatted aside the Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic 6-0, 6-4.