Kremlin Cup: Simona Halep, Anett Kontaveit avoid chain of upsets to win openers

Simona Halep and Anett Kontaveit were the only two seeded players who won their first-round matches at the Kremlin Cup on Tuesday. The day’s action in the Russian capital was otherwise marred with retirements.The eighth-seeded Romanian defeated Anastasia Potapova in the clash of two wildcard entrants. Halep, a former champion in Moscow in 2013, needed an hour and 30 minutes to complete a 6-1, 6-4 win. Although Halep found it easy to make inroads in the match in the opening set, the se