American hope, Sloane Stephens, kicked-off her campaign at the Hobart International 2015 with a straight-set win over Romanian Monica Niculescu.

Fifth-seeded Stephens needed just 67 minutes to pull off a serene 6-4, 6-2 conquest of her lower-ranked counterpart on the Centre Court.

Meanwhile, third seed Camila Giorgi of Italy also advanced to the second round of the tournament, following a thrilling 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 win over local wild card Storm Sanders.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS – SINGLES

(1) C Dellacqua d. L Davis (6-4, 1-6, 6-4)

K Knapp d. A Tomljanovic (7-5, 6-2)

(Q) K Kozlova d. K Flipkens (4-6, 6-3, 6-4)

(3) C Giorgi d. (W) S Sanders (5-7, 6-1, 7-6)

(Q) J Larsson d. S Zheng (3-6, 1-0 ret.)

(9) R Vinci d. (W) O Rogowska (6-1, 4-6, 6-3)

A Beck d. J Cepelova (6-7, 7-5, 6-4)

H Watson d. M Rybarikova (7-5, 6-1)

(8) A Riske d. C McHale (6-4, ret.)

B Jovanovski d. M Lucic-Baroni (5-2 ret.)

(W) D Hantuchova d. (Q) R Hogenkamp (7-6, 7-6)

(2) Z Diyas d. (L) S Soler-Espinosa (6-3, 6-4)

K Kanepi d. M Puig (6-4, 6-1)

K Nara d. (6) K Koukalova (0-6, 6-2, 6-1)

(5) S Stephens d. M Niculescu (6-4, 6-2)

(Image: stevegtennis.com)