Emma Navarro made a clinical start to her campaign at the WTA 500 tournament in Merida after demolishing qualifier Petra Martic 6-1 6-2.
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As the top-seeded player in the draw, the American had a first-round bye.
But playing against Martic - who had already won three matches in Merida - was no issue at all for the world No. 10, who started the match with an early 3-0 lead before earning another break in the sixth game and closing out the first set in the following game.
The second set started just as the first set as Navarro registered an early break and went 2-0 up.
Five games later, the 2024 US Open semifinalist broke the Croatian one more time to go 5-2 up before serving out for a dominant win in the next game.
It was the third meeting between the two and the American now leads their head-to-head 2-1.
Navarro plays next against defendingchampion Zeynep Sonmez
Sonmez, who won Merida last year but needed a wildcard to make this year's tournament directly, was 6-3 3-1 up over Magda Linette in their round-of-16 meeting when the Pole retired the match.
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A round earlier, the Turk started her title defense in style, beating Maria Sakkari 7-5 6-2.
When Navarro and Sonmez meet, it will be their second meeting.
In their first matchup, the American absolutely dominated as she registered a 6-2 6-0 win during last year's French Open.
While the Turkish world No. 88 definitely loves playing at the Mexican event and has a 7-0 record there, there is no doubt that Navarro still enters the match as the big favorite.
