Beijing, China, 1 October 2019 | Matt Trollope

Ash Barty showed few signs of the calf injury that affected her in Wuhan as she stormed to victory over Yulia Putintseva on Tuesday at the China Open.

The Australian beat Putintseva 6-4 6-2 in one hour and 15 minutes to move into the third round of the hard-court tournament, where she will play either 13th seed Sloane Stephens or local star Zheng Saisai.

It was a powerful performance from the top seed, who belted 13 forehand winners and seven aces among 23 total winners, and showed off her full repertoire of shots.

Putintseva managed just six winners.

CLASS.

World No.1 @ashbar96 kicks off her @ChinaOpen campaign with a smooth 6-4 6-2 win against Yulia Putintseva.#GoAussies #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/tmLIcGPXOj

— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) October 1, 2019

Later on Tuesday, Barty’s countrywoman Ajla Tomljanovic fell in a titanic three-set battle against the in-form Alison Riske.

Tomljanovic saved seven match points against last week’s Wuhan finalist before Riske eventually sealed a 6-3 3-6 6-4 victory.

Barty’s previous match was a semifinal loss in Wuhan to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka, where the calf problem affected her.

But after a few days’ to rest and recover, she was happy with her performance physically on Tuesday.

“We had a couple light days (in training). We didn’t really test it until today. I didn’t play any points or anything, practice any points, simulation until today,” Barty revealed.

“I think it was about going back out there and knowing we’ve done everything we could, trusting it.

“Felt really good, so all positive.”

What a way to break serve, @ashbar96 ! ❤@chinaopen #chinaopen pic.twitter.com/kqMREjENEF

— WTA (@WTA) October 1, 2019

Serving for the match, Barty missed a short forehand into the net that gave Putintseva just her second break point.

But from here, the Aussie landed three powerful first serves that the Kazakh could not control to hit her way out of trouble and seal victory.

“It was solid today without being fantastic, but it was what we needed to do today,” Barty said.

“I think that’s the most important thing, is that I’ve given myself a chance now to play another match and to test myself again to see where I’m at.

“Overall pretty happy with how it went today, how we were able to get on a roll in the second set a little bit there.”