Beijing, China, 28 September 2014 | AAP

Australia’s Sam Stosur has advanced to the second round of the China Open with a straight-sets win over fellow tour veteran Francesca Schiavone of Italy.

The 13th meeting between the two was one-way traffic, Stosur taking the match 6-4 6-2 in just over 90 minutes.

The news wasn’t as good for resurgent left-hander Casey Dellacqua, who went down in three sets to German seventh seed Angelique Kerber.

Dellacqua, who has risen to be ranked 27th in the world on the back of a career resurrection, went down to the world No.8 6-1 3-6 6-3.

Stosur was able to take advantage of Schiavone’s weak serve, breaking her eight times throughout the match, while only being broken once herself.

The Australian hit five aces and won 75 per cent of points on her first serve.

Stosur will take on resurgent former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the second round. The Danish sixth-seed was the beneficiary of a first-round bye.

Wozniacki holds a 4-3 head-to-head record over Stosur, winning their last two encounters, the latest being a 7-5, 6-4 victory at Eastbourne, the traditional women’s Wimbledon lead-up.

It wasn’t a good day for the Italians, with Sara Errani the highest-profile casualty; the 11th seed fell to Japan’s Kurumi Nara in three sets, leaving Roberta Vinci to fly the flag.

Maria Sharapova, Ekatarina Makarova and Venus Williams all advanced to the second round.