BEIJING (AFP) - Tennis star Li Na overcame a bout of nerves to maintain the host nation's impressive momentum at the China Open on Tuesday.

The seventh seed dropped four service games before beating Russian Vera Dushevina 6-3, 6-4 as four local players made it into the second round, with only Yan Zi missing out.

It was the 40th win of the season for Li, China's first grand slam quarter-finalist who is spear-heading the country's recent charge in the sport.

The world number 23 from Wuhan was also a first-round winner against Duchevina at Guangzhou in 2004, when she went on to lift the trophy after starting as a qualifier.

"I had a lot of nerves playing at home," said Li, who failed to win a match at last year's China Open. "She had played three qualifying matches and already had her match rhythm."

Li was joined in the second round by compatriot Zheng Jie, who appeared untroubled by her recent ankle injury and beat American Jill Craybas 6-4, 6-3.

Sun Tiantian and Peng Shuai had already qualified on Monday. Sun has the daunting prospect of a second-round match against world number one Amelie Mauresmo, who will make her China debut after receiving a first-round bye.

Croatian qualifier Jelena Kostanic handed China their first defeat of the week, downing Li's doubles partner Yan to set up a second-round match against Russian second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Kuznetsova spent Monday traveling from Bali and took the rest of the day off before beginning practice on Tuesday.

"I'm a little bit tired. I'll train later but just hope I can play well on Wednesday," said the world number five.

Title-holder Maria Kirilenko survived a scare in the first set as she almost lost her way while leading 5-2.

But the Russian eighth seed came through a tiebreaker then increased the pressure in the second set to secure a 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 win over Argentine Gisela Dulko.

The qualifying effort of Alicia Molik went for naught when she lost to Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-2, 7-6 (7/2).

The former top-10 Australian missed months of last season with an inner ear infection and has struggled to find her game after returning to tennis full-time in the late spring.

Molik has now lost five straight first-round games after winning one match at Wimbledon and two in Paris.

In a rare encounter between Europeans, Greece's Eleni Daniilidou put out Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-4, 6-1.