Agnieszka Radwanska of Ukraine defeated Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-4 6-2 to  advance into the second round of the  Generali Ladies Linz on Wednesday on Wednesday.

"I'm happy the match wasn't too long and I won in two sets," said Radwanska.

"I've played a lot the last few weeks and everyone is tired, so it's nice to have a quicker match. It's uncomfortable to play Monica, she has a very unique style. The first set was really close but I did better in the second set."

Radwanska will next face Alize Cornet of France, who battled past against Kristina Barrois of Germany 4-6 6-3 6-3.

Radwanska is one of five players hoping to earn the last place at the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha. Radwanska stormed in the final of the China Open in Beijing before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova on Sunday.

"Before Asia I didn't have any chance and I didn't think about it," she said.

"But after Beijing I'm 10th in the race. There's one more big tournament  in Moscow and there are a lot of points there, but even if I'll be an alternate I'll be so happy to go there."

Third seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium defeated Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 7-6 (6) 6-4 to set up next round clash with Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, who defeated  Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-3 6-1.

In other matches of the day, fourth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain defeated Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3  6-4, while Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic knocked out countrywoman  Iveta Benesova 6-4 7-5.