Sonay Kartal continued to impress on her return to tennis by defeat Anhelina Kalinina in straight sets to reach the second round of the Wuhan Open on the WTA Tour.
The Brit has spent six months away from tennis to recover from a stress fracture in her back and reached the third round of the China Open in Beijing last week in what was her first WTA tournament back from injury.
The British No.5 needed just one hour and 31 minutes to sweep aside Ukranian Kalinina as she notched up a 7-5 6-3 victory to set up a clash with Swiss ninth seed Belinda Bencic in the next round.
Kartal, who dropped to 170th in the world due to her back injury and time off, will face a tricky task against Bencic but a strong showing will continue to build confidence following recent victories.
The 24-year-old made her comeback from injury in the Billie Jean Cup team event last month and lost to Marie Bouzkova, ranked 26th in the world. She then defeated Spain’s Andrea Lazaro Garcia and China’s Wang Xinyu in Beijing before losing to Armenia Alina Charaeva in the third round.
Elsewhere, Zheng Qinwen withdrew from her home tournament in Wuhan after becoming the first Chinese player to win the China Open.
In a statement, Zheng said she would not be competing because her “body is feeling very fatigued” after “an intense run of matches”.
Zheng underwent elbow surgery last year and had struggled with form and fitness over the past 12 months, before a recent upturn led to her triumph in Beijing.