Australian Samantha Stosur claimed an opening-day win at the Bali Tournament of Champions on Wednesday, defeating Hungary's Agnes Szavay.

Stosur, who only arrived in the Indonesian holiday resort town on Tuesday, beat Szavay 6-2 3-6 6-1 to get off to a winning start at the $US600,000 ($A664,231) tournament.

The field at the Bali tournament comprises the 10 highest ranked female players who have won a WTA tour title this year but who did not compete in the season-ending WTA Championships in Qatar last week.

Two wild cards have also been included in the draw, which splits the players into four groups of three in the opening stages.

Stosur, seeded second, is in group D with Szavay and Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

France also cashed in on the opening day with top seed Marion Bartoli and Aravane Rezai both winning their matches.

Bartoli, who played the final in Bali three years ago against Svetlana Kuznetsova when the event was a regular WTA season tournament, started her campaign over Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4 6-4.

Rezai earned the opening win for France at the 12-woman event as she upset fourth seed Sabine Lisicki 1-6 6-3 6-4 despite eight aces from the German.

Belgian Yanina Wickmayer won a battle of the generations over 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

Bartoli won two titles this year that put her into the Bali field, taking wins at Monterrey and Stanford.

The top seed secured her opening victory after losing serve only once and breaking three times, including in the penultimate game.

Bartoli improved to 47-21 this season.

At 20 years of age, Wickmayer, a surprise US Open semi-finalist two months ago, is nearly two decades younger than her evergreen opponent Date Krumm, who at 39 is renewing her career after a decade-long pause.

The veteran Japanese who returned to the WTA in 2008 and claimed lower-level ITF titles in Tokyo and Monzon, Spain, last season, capped her comeback by winning Seoul in September to qualify for the Bali field.

Date Krumm lost serve five times as her European opponent took charge, never allowing the veteran a chance to turn the tide.

Wickmayer's victory in just over 90 minutes was her 55th of a breakthrough season in which she won both of her career titles.

Rezai, winner of the title at Strasbourg before Roland Garros, took one hour, 44 minutes to secure victory over Lisicki, one of the up and coming players on the circuit.

The Frenchwoman kept the pressure on the 20-year-old German, forcing her to save 11 of 14 break points. Rezai came through to victory despite seven double-faults.