On Saturday at the WTA 1000 China open, different seeds leave Beijing, while Iga Swiatek, Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula and Zheng Qinwen all spent to the round of 32 without the loss of a set.
China open was actually not in our plan because, as I said on the field, I was not yet 100%. Like 80%, 70%, but I can compete. The recovery process is very long. In the beginning I healed very quickly. Somehow, when it comes to the last 20%, it just didn’t get any better. I checked with my team and they told me, you have no risk of playing matches. It depends on you. I like to play here in China. I made a difficult decision to get on the field and see what will happen during the game. Until now it was still pretty good. Zheng Qinwen
The exhaust seeds were led by Clara Tauson, after the 10th placed Dane fell into the Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, 6-4 2-6 6-3, followed by the No. 12 Seed, Naomi Osaka, who lost to Russian Aliagsandra Sasnovich, 1-6 6-4, Lasted Seedy, Last 6-4, Last 6-4, Last 6-4, Last 6-4, Last 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 7 Sonay Kartal, 6-3, 6-3, 6. 6-0.
Sonmez, the World No 82, scored her first top 20 victory with her upset by Tauson, whose run in a bad form goes into a different setback in the DANE ambitions to qualify for the seasonal WTA finale.
Tauson, who received medical help along the way, and only briefly showed her usual high level in the game, was slowly from the goal and soon dropped 0-4 when Sonmez initiative with her slow starts.
With the score 5-2 in favor of Sonmez, Tauson asked for a medical time-out and said she had problems breathing.
The 22-year-old chose to continue and managed to reduce the shortage to 4-5, but Sonmez took the first set when the Dane hit a forehand wide.
Tauson was transformed at the start of the second, when her serve started working, and this time it was the Dane who broke from the start to take a 3-0 lead and had little trouble bringing the set to level.
However, she could not hold the momentum, while the Turk raised its level and the game of Tauson fell apart again when she was broken 1-2, who followed Sonmez with a new break, thanks to a great backhand winner who gave her a 4-1 lead.
Tauson managed to break back to make 3-5 of it, but it was of little use when she then lost her own ministry.
Anastasia Potapova took out the No 21 Seed, the 19-year-old Victoria Mboko on day 4 of the China Open in the National Tennis Center in Beijing
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Sonmez went ahead to meet Anastasia Potapova, who upset the no. 21 Seed, Victoria Mboko from Canada, 7-6 (5) 7-5, in a battle of 2 hours and 5 minutes full of momentum fluctuations and unpredictability.
The chaos started in the opening match, when the reigning Canadian open champion broke the serve of Potapova for an early lead, but the Russian reacted immediately and converted her 4th breaking point in the next game to deliver the score.
Later in the set it was Potapova who saved 2 breaking points before he finally dropped Mboko a 6-5 lead, and the drama continued, as Mboko was double 4 times in the next game and after saving 2 breaking points the break immediately returned.
The tiebreak was no less turbulent when Potapova rose 5/0 ahead, only to see Mboko to win 5 straight points to level, before the Russian quickly regrouped to achieve the last 2 points and close the set after 70 minutes.
Mboko opened the second set with her 8th double mistakes and gave Potapova 2 early break opportunities, but the Canadian saved them both and held them for a short second lead, before the Russian responded by winning 3 straight matches to go on a set and a break.
The momentum turned around again, when Mboko turned 4 consecutive matches and served on 5-3, but Potapova closed with a break to love, followed by a hold to love, another break in love, and finally, serving the game.
The 24-year-old won the last 4 games and 16 of the last 17 points to complete the upset, send the young Canadian packaging and end with 5-from-16 on breakpoint conversions.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich made the 2019 champion, Naomi Osaka, in 3 sets on Saturday
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White -Russian qualifying match Aliaksandra Sasnovich so far pulled one of the greatest disturbances in the China Open, from a set and a break to beat the 2019 champion, Naomi Osaka, after an hour and 56 minutes.
Osaka had not lost a completed match in Beijing since 2018, because he was forced to retire in the 4th round in a set all against Coco Gauff.
The Japanese have returned to the top 20 after reaching the final of Montreal and the US Open Semi-Finales, and went into the game against Sasnovich, who has won all 4 of their earlier meetings.
The 31-year-old Sasnovich is a 5-time WTA finalist, who achieved a career height of No 29 in 2022, but this year De Wit-Russia achieved only 5 wins at tour level, and her ranking has fallen to no. 130.
“To be honest, I did not believe until the end that I can beat Naomi because she is a great player,” Sasnovich said in her interview on the field.
For a one and a half half, the dominance of Osaka about Sasnovich was clear, in particular a golf in quality, Between their slips.
Sasnovich only landed 5 first in the opening set and won only 4 points behind her delivery in total, while Osaka landed 72% of her first portions and won more than 62% of her points on both deliveries.
The Japanese were under pressure in just one match, when she served on 5-1 for the first set, and she responded excellently and played her best 2 points of the game to keep both breaking points against her, and then a few service winners to help her about the line.
2-3 Secondly, Sasnovich’s break came out of nowhere, with an oblique backhand winner from an unlikely position, but the momentum switch was immediately.
On 4-4, Sasnovich made a few winning trips to the net for the first time and then sealed the set on return when Osaka’s Backhand began to break down.
Subtracting winners and entering a series of compelling, high-octane battles in the decision maker, won Sasnovich 10 of the last 13 games, after he had lost 9 of the first 11.
Even a temporary decline when serving before the game could not stand her pass, and she was cool a nice drop shot and a precise backhand winner in the next game to close the victory.
After having managed only 6 winners in the first set, Sasnovich 21 made in the next two, and while Osaka committed only 8 casual mistakes in the opener, she made 33 in sets 2 and 3 combined.
Sasnovich will then be confronted with no. 23 Seed Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine, which delivered a masterful performance full of excellent net game and remarkable athletics to beat the German qualifying match Ella Seidel, 6-1 6-1, in 61 minutes.
World No. 2 Iga Swiatek brought its China open campaign to a flying start and beat the local wildcard Yuan Yue with the loss of only 3 games in Beijing
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No 1 Seed and 2023 Champion Iga Swiatek dropped only 3 games against Wildcard Yuan Yue to open her China Open campaign, 6-0 6-3, and will meet the Camila Osorio of Colombia, while 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the 4th Seed of Russia, made the wild work of the birthstad, bore, 6-2-22-220iner, in just one hour and 19 minutes.
“Last year I lost to this court in the quarters,” Andreeva said after the game. “So I’m not going to try to think about it and enjoy every game I can play here. And I will do my best to pass the bar of the quarterfinals here and continue.”
Her campaign started an ideal start, broke in the first game and never appeared under a serious threat, although she briefly faltered in the first set, a double mistakes to surrender a break while she led 4-1, but she still closed the set in 36 minutes.
That only breaking point was the only thing she encountered in the entire game.
Next for Andreeva is a first meeting with Jessica Bouzas Maleiro in Spain, who produced a 7-5 6-4 upset victory on the Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, the 29th seed.
Jessica Pegula made a strong start in 5th place, while she wants to pick up her 4th title of the season and Ajla Tomljanovic from Australia in her opener, 6-0 6-3, about the ‘Lotus Court’ of Beijing dominated.
The American received a lot of public support when she started her China open -campaign in a certain style.
“I certainly noticed a lot this year,” she said. “Last year I noticed it, but I don’t know why it feels more this year. Now I have a nickname. I think they are so creative with many off-court things, doing things for the podcast we started. They are very creative, I keep saying. Like, they certainly investigate many things.
“Although I felt it last year, it feels like it’s much more this year. I’m not sure why. Maybe over the years, fans and getting things like that. Or maybe I just embrace it a little more.”
Fan favorite Zheng Qinwen, pleased to play for her home crowd, after being sidelined after the elbow surgery, celebrated her opening victory against Emiliana Arango in the China Open
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Zheng Qinwen also made a successful return to the Tour for her home fans after she was lined more than 2 months after the elbow operation.
The World No 9 defeated Lucky Loser Emiliana Arango from Colombia, 6-3 6-2, her first victory since June when she reached the semi-final in the Queen’s Club.
“Actually, China open was not in our plan because, as I said on the field, I was not yet 100%,” Zheng said in her press conference after the game. “Like 80%, 70%, but I can compete. The recovery process is very long. In the beginning I healed very quickly. Somehow it just didn’t get better.
“I have checked with my team, and they told me, you have no risk of playing matches. It depends on you. I like to play here in China. I have made a difficult decision to get on the field and see what will happen during the game. Until now there was still pretty good.”
Saturday’s game was the 3rd meeting of Zheng with Arango and the 22-year-old improved her record to 3-0.
Next for Zheng is not 26 seed Linda Noskova from the Czech Republic, who progressed, 6-3 6-2, past the local Wildcard Wang Xiyu.
Completing the results for day 4, the no. 16 Seed, American Emma Navarro, stopped a late indictment of Elena-Gabriela Ruse from Romania, who forced a tiebreak from 1-5 in the second set, to win their China open 2nd-round-meeting, 6-3 7-6.
Navarro continues by meeting the French open semi-finalist Lois Boisson, after the no. 19 Seed and 2023 finalist Liudmila Samsonova from Russia made up Russia to achieve her 4th career-top 30 victory, her first since Roland Garros and the first on hard banks.
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