CHINESE duo Xinyu Wang and Yue Yuan both secured their spots in the second round of the Wuhan Open after first-up victories against opponents on Centre Court. The Chinese duo ranked 51st and 41st respectively were able to knock off American Caroline Dolehide and Frenchwoman Clara Burel in vastly different circumstances.

While Wang was able to overcome the 101st ranked Dolehide in a blitz 6-4 6-0, Yuan was made to work for it against lucky loser Burel, only winning one game in the first set before coming back to salute, 1-6 6-4 6-2 in two hours and two minutes.

Wang was ultra consistent against Dolehide and never gave the American a chance in the one-hour and 19-minute demolition. While pushed through the first set, Wang was unstoppable in the second, only losing one point on serve, while breaking Dolehide three times in the second set and collecting 27 of the 36 points in total from the set.

Against the talented Burel, Yuan struggled early, only winning eight of 22 off her serve, while the Frenchwoman dominated with an 89 and 50 per cent success rate off her first and second serve. Aside from two double faults, Burel only lost three points off ser second serve, and saved the only break point she faced.

Despite racing to a 6-1 lead, she was unable to sustain it as Yuan found life with the hoemcrowd spurring her on. She won 60 and 77 per cent of her first and second serve points in the second set, and broke twice to Burel’s once to level the match with a 6-4 set.

She built on that momentum in the decider, whacking away five break point opportunities for her opponent, winning 12 of 15 points off her first serve and then capitalising with two breaks of her own. In the end, she won the third set 6-2 to close out the match in two hours and three minutes.

Wang will play either China Open semi-finalist and former world number three Paula Badosa, or Hong Kong 125 title winner Ajla Tomljanovic in the Round of 32. Yuan has an even tougher task with a clash against third seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini scheduled for the second round.

In other results, Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska‘s poor form continued in Wuhan with a sixth straight loss since returning to hardcourt. The 2024 Australian Open semi-finalist has not won a WTA Tour match since Wimbledon, with defeats across both the American and now Asian hardcourt circuits. The 24 year-old went down to Russian lucky loser Erika Andreeva in straight sets, 7-5 6-4.

In the match of the day, Canadian Leylah Fernandez produced a ripping performance to defeat 12th seeded Russian Diana Shnaider 6-7 6-3 6-3 to down the only seed on day one. It was much better news for ninth seeded Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia and 15th seeded Croatian Donna Vekic, both of whom advanced to the next round against former Top 20 opponents.

Magdalena Frech, Diane Parry, Hayley Baptiste and Anastasia Potapova were the other opening day winners, with the latter now taking on second seed Jessica Pegula in the second round.