Milan, 27 September. (LaPresse) – An excellent start for Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini as defending champions at the China Open, the penultimate WTA 1000 tournament of the season, with a prize fund of $8,963,700, which is being played on the hard courts of the Olympic Green Tennis Centre in Beijing (combined with an ATP 500 tournament). The Italian pair, seeded number 2, second in the Race and already mathematically qualified for the WTA Finals in Riyadh (for the second consecutive year), defeated Irina Kromacheva (no. 22 in the rankings) and Indonesia's Aldila Sutjiadi (no. 45) 6-3, 6-2. Errani and Paolini will face Australia's Ellen Perez (18) and Ukraine's Lyudmila Kichenok (32), who already faced the Italians alongside Marta Kostyuk in the doubles that decided the semi-final against Ukraine in the Billie Jean King Cup, won by the Italians in the final against the United States.