Simona Halep has made the perfect start to the WTA Championships by beating Flavia Pennetta 6-0 6-3 in Singapore.

Kicking off the season-ending tournament against the Italian, Halep boosted her chances of reaching the knockout stage by opening her Red Group campaign with a victory.

It was a dominant start from Halep, who looked untroubled by her rival on serve and capitalised on the opportunities offered to race away with the opener in just 26 minutes as Pennetta, who will retire after the event, was punished for failing to find her range from the back of the court.

Despite continuing to struggle with her first serves, Pennetta improved in the second set and forced the world number two to save a couple of break points in the first game.

This year's US Open champion battled to stay in the match, but Halep capitalised on break point at the fourth attempt to take a 5-3 lead, before holding to 15 to ensure it was a comfortable start to the round-robin stage.