Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro and Qinwen Zheng got their clay-court campaigns up and running at the Charleston Open.

Reigning Olympic champion Zheng, who is seeded third, was handed a tough second-round draw in the form of a tie with Maria Sakkari. 

Yet Zheng, a semi-finalist in Charleston last year, cruised through in straight sets, triumphing 6-4 6-1in a little over 90 minutes on Wednesday.

"[I knew] when I have to attack, when I have to defend, because everybody here is going to make the transition from hard to clay," said Zheng, who will face Elise Mertens next.

"I believe who does that better here can win the tournament."

All In, All Wen

Zheng Qinwen outlasts a tough opponent in Sakkari, securing her spot in the next round with a 6-4, 6-1 victory!#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/wTDfaCuNiA

— wta (@WTA) April 2, 2025

Top seed Pegula had similarly little trouble as she breezed through a tie with qualifier Iryna Shymanovich 6-0 6-3.

The world number four, fresh from her defeat to Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the Miami Open, reeled off the first eight games to take command of that encounter.

There was a straight sets win, too, for home hope Navarro, who downed compatriot Hailey Baptiste 6-4 6-3.

Data Debrief: Zheng on a roll

It has been an underwhelming start to the season for Zheng, who has been unable to build on her strong 2024 so far.

But she is a force to be reckoned with on clay, as she displayed in her charge to Olympic gold at Roland-Garros last year. Zheng has now won 12 straight matches on the surface.

Sakkari, meanwhile, has now lost each of her last eight matches against top-10 opponents, since she beat Coco Gauff at the Indian Wells Open last year.