LONDON, June 25 (Xinhua) -- 2018 Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber eased into round three of the Eastbourne International, as Kiki Bertens, Johanna Konta, Caroline Wozniacki and Simona Halep also reached the last 16 on Tuesday.
Kerber made the semifinals at the Mallorca Open last week to kick off her grass court season and will be hopeful of claiming her first title of the year in Eastbourne, where she has reached the final twice previously.
Her opponent, Australian qualifier Samantha Stosur, had seen off American Sofia Kenin in round one, but had no answer to Kerber's power as the German fired 15 winners on her way to a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
"It's nice being back here, having another good match on grass before Wimbledon," said Kerber."That's why I'm here. I like to play here on grass, so I try to enjoy every match and every moment right now."
Bertens was also in commanding form as the number three seed saw off Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-1.
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki was another to win in straight sets, beating Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-4 to set up a rematch of last year's final against Aryna Sabalenka.
Konta is keen to make an impression on home soil after reaching the semifinals of the French Open.
Sixth seed Halep began her grass court campaign in style with a 6-2, 6-0 thrashing of Hsieh Su-Wei, and will be confident of further progress when she faces Slovakian qualifier Polona Hercog.
Elena Svitolina was the top ranked player to exit on Tuesday, as the Ukrainian fifth seed bowed out 6-3, 7-6 (3) to Alize Cornet.
The Frenchwoman led by a set and a break before play was stopped on Monday, but Svitolina quickly broke back to level at 3-3 in the second and then saved a match point to break again and take the contest to a tie-break.
Cornet, however, bounced back to race through the tie-break 7-3.
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko also rallied from losing the first set 6-1 to world No. 9 Sloane Stephens to take the next two sets 6-0, 6-3.
