Both players were making debuts in the competition, but it was the Estonian - the bottom seed - who prevailed in 1 hour 15 minutes to claim the first singles victory of the event.

Kontaveit is therefore top of Group Teotihuacán.

Kontaveit was the steadier player in the opening set, with six winners and six unforced errors, while Krejčíková's nine winners were overwhelmed by 18 unforced errors.

Those mistakes by the Czech appeared in the fourth game, where she hit two double faults and dropped serve to hand Kontaveit a 3-1 lead.

Clean hitting by Kontaveit allowed her to build on the early advantage, as she swept through the set without being troubled on serve.

Kontaveit then smashed three aces in the final game of the first set to clinch it.

The 25-year-old carried the momentum into the second set, breaking her opponent in the first game.

Krejčíková's superb arsenal of shots made more frequent appearances during that set, but it would not be enough to hold off Kontaveit, who eased through to victory.

The Estonian finished the match without facing a break point, and she collected 85 per cent of points from her first serve, as she took home the first win of the event.

Karolina Plíšková came from a set down to beat Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza in the second match of the day in the Teotihuacán Group.

Muguruza impressed to claim the opener set 6-4, only for Plíšková to storm back by breaking serve twice to clinch the second 6-2.

Muguruza fended off two match points on her serve in the decider, before saving a third in the tie-break.

Plíšková clinched victory with her fourth match point of the contest, with the Czech star wrapping up a hard-fought 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 victory.

World number two Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, Greece's Maria Sakkari, Iga Świątek of Poland and Paula Badosa of Spain make up the Group Chichén Itzá.