The British Emma Raducanu fell to beat after wasting 3 match points in a last 32 defeat against Jessica Pegula on the WTA 1000 China Open on Monday, but the British no. 4 Sonay Kartal made light work by Maya Joint to book a tear at Mirra Andreeva in the last 16.
That was a crazy competition! It was very nice. The tiebreak was intense, but I got in again and stopped the pressure. When she [Raducanu] Touch the double mistakes, I knew I was still playing tennis well, and it was there. I was lucky with my two backhand winners. Jessica Pegula
Raducanu was confronted with a tough assignment against Pegula, the world no. 5, but the 22-year-old British Nr.
Pegula stood on the edge of the defeat, but clawed herself back in the position by saving the 3 match points in the second set of Tiebreak, deep digging to complete a stunning arrival, before they race through the decisive set to win, 3-6 7-6 (9) 6-0, after 2 hours and 21 minutes, where she will be Marta Kostyuk.
Raducanu made a strong start of the game and shot, amid a wild battle, a backhand winner to bring the set point, before he completed the job in style with a nice forehand from the baseline to win the set with some convenience.
During the high quality match, the first two sets were filled with compelling exchanges that showed both the court crafts and the athletics of both players, and it was Raducanu, which was faster out of the blocks, which saved a breaking point in the first match by making one of the best rallies of the match with a Farhand-Pass.
Pegula was double on the way to drop serve in her first service game, and only started clicking on her forehand side in the 6th match, but it was too late to save the set, while Raducanu’s Forehand was on songs, and winners of that wing sealed her 1st set and brought the way to a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for a break for 2-1.
The British No. 1 Emma Raducanu went to the better start to lead by a set and held 3 match points in the second set of breaker, before Jessica Pegula returned, the last set in Beijing abandons
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Then it was Pegula’s turn to win a spectacular exchange, brave defensively with Raducanu on the net and was rewarded with a volleyfout of the 22-year-old, and then the American scored an immediate break.
Neither of them fell the serve for the rest of the set, which ran in the knife-edge Tiebreak, which Raducanu led 5/2, but she then failed to take her chances and Pegula turned capitalized.
The American 5th Seed produced a half-volley one-two stroke along the line, so that all the pace was diverted of a hefty Raducanu-backkeer at the 1st match point, and then, on the 2nd, gave a net cord Raducanu a Forehand-Sitter to turn away, but also from a winer, shot the American the American shot for a winnet.
The 3rd match point was stored when Raducanu sent her forehand long, one of the 3 consecutive errors of that wing, with which she lost the set, 11/9.
Momentum shifted quickly to the advantage of Pegula, while the game of Raducanu drastically waste.
The 2024 US Open Runner-Up drove through the last set and will be confronted in the next round with the 23rd seed Marta Kostyuk, after the Ukrainian Aliaksandra Sasonovich from Belarus, 6-4 6-2, defeated in 84 minutes.
Although the weather was a disappointing loss for Emma Raducanu, the British NR rises.
© Lalta Zhang/Getty Images
Since the beating of Emma Navarro in the Miami Open in March, Raducanu had lost 8 games in a row against Top10 players.
It is also the second time in so many weeks that Raducanu has lost from 3 match points up, and via an overtime second set of tiebreak, to a former top 3 opponent.
In the 2nd round of Seoul, she wasted a 5-2 second set lead to Fall to Barbora Krejcikova, 4-6 7-6 (10) 6-1, after she also led 5-2 in the breaker, and she now lost 6 of her last 7 tiebreaks who went back until June.
“That was a crazy game,” said 31-year-old Pegula after the game. “It was very nice. The tiebreak was intense, but I came in again and stopped the pressure.
‘If she [Raducanu] Touch the double mistakes, I knew I was still playing tennis well, and it was there. I was lucky with my two backhand winners.
“Other than that, I tried to keep fighting for as long as I could. The crowd was great, this court was good for me and I am excited to play here. I am glad I endured tonight and I will try to rest and restore.”
Sonay Kartal keeps the British flag flying with another impressive victory over the 19-year-old Maya Joint to reach the last 16 in Beijing
© Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images
The British interest in the tournament is now on the shoulders of Sonay Kartal, after the 23-year-old, who is 81 in the world, triumphed, 6-3 6-2, about Australian no. 2, Maya Joint, in 72 minutes.
Kartal plays the China open for the first time and dominated in her 3 games here in Beijing, produces a polished performance in each, and now has the last 16 on the WTA 1000 level or so far, all made in 2025, after Indian Wells and Wimbledon.
On Sunday she was a comfortable winner against the world No. 36, quickly from the stamp against joint and racing in a 4-0 lead.
The Aussie, who has achieved 2 WTA titles this season, managed to stop the momentum of Kartal while she settled in the game, but despite the recovery of one of the breaks, the Brit stabbed the pressure to close the set.
The Forehand of Kartal proved too much for Joint, and she got the most out of her chances in the return games and broke the 19-year-old Australian in the 3rd and 7th games before she sealed the victory on her 1st match point.
It was again a solid version on Serve for the Brit, who only dropped 6 points behind her delivery in the second set.
Her victory sees her set up a block-buster collision against 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the world no. 4 from Russia, who beat the Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain, 6-4 6-1, in an hour and 32 minutes.
It will mark a career-first meeting between the two, and Kartal will be hopeful to reach the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career.
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