Shenzhen Open – Day 1 wrap: Underdogs impress in round one of Shenzhen qualifiers
THE qualifying round of the 2020 Shenzhen Open started with a bang on Saturday, as 16 players went head-to-head to try and gain a coveted main draw spot. The first four matches of the tournament saw straight sets wins before a battle between Barbora Krejcikova and Nina Stojanovic livened up proceedings with a mammoth three-set battle.
Ranking leaders in Germany’s Tatjana Maria (86th), Serbia’s Stojanovic (87th) and Hungary’s Timea Babos (89th) were tested in their respective matches, with two of the three going down to lower ranked opposition. Babos got away relatively lucky against Kaja Juvan, winning 7-5 6-4 and holding her own against the 19-year-old Slovenian who certainly gave Babos a run for her money.
The quickest victory of Day 1 saw 145th ranked Anna-Lena Friedsam blow her fellow German opponent in Maria out of the water, winning in straight sets in 50 minutes, 1-6 2-6. The favourite on the day, Maria is ranked 59 spots ahead of Friedsam but was lacklustre on the court, only winning 54.8 per cent of her first serve points and collecting three double faults in what was a stellar game for Friedsam.
Meanwhile, the match of the day saw the competition’s second seed Stojanovic pushed relentlessly by Czech Republic’s Krejcikova in a monstrous three sets and tie-breaker, 4-6 6-2 5-7. The two-and-a-half hour match saw the tides turn incessantly with both players finding form on occasion before dropping the ball, before Krejcikova eventually took control once more to knock Stojanovic out of contention.
A tight start between Swiss, Stefanie Voegele and Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu saw Begu eventually reign supreme after winning the first and third sets – the third being a comfortable 1-6 finish (5-7 6-3 1-6). American Nicole Gibbs was impressive against a well-matched opponent in Romanian Monica Niculescu, winning 6-3 6-3, while an all-Italian battle raged nearby in a tight contest that almost saw Martina Trevisan force teammate Jasmine Paolini to a third set, ending at a tight 6-3 7-5.
Meanwhile, home nation, China was unlucky on the first day of the competition, with both Ma Shuyue and Yuan Yue going down to their respective Russian counterparts in Margarita Gasparyan and Varvara Gracheva.
2024 WTA Finals preview: Singles
EIGHT players, one crown. That is what is in store for the prestigious WTA Finals which sees the best of the best going up against one another in a massive round-robin tournament. All four Grand Slam winners qualify automatically each year, with the remaining top ranked players for the calendar year filling out the eight […]
Zheng salutes in Tokyo for first WTA 500 title
A TWO-time winner in Palermo and an Olympic gold medalist in Paris, Chinese world number seven Qinwen Zheng can now add a home continent title to her CV after triumphing in Tokyo today. The top seed at the Pan Pacific Open was able to fend off a determined Sofia Kenin in straight sets, 7-6 6-3 […]
Zheng fights off Shnaider, sets up Kenin clash
A DROUGHT will be broken one way or another in today’s Pan Pacific Open final in Tokyo when top seed Qinwen Zheng and American wildcard Sofia Kenin face off the in the WTA 500’s decider. Zheng is gunning for her first WTA Tour title outside of Palermo, while Kenin can break an incredible four-year titleless […]
No Tokyo drift for Kenin; upsets Kasatkina
FORMER Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin is steadily building her way back up the world rankings, and is now through to the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The American talent took out third seed Daria Kasatkina in the quarter finals, winning 6-3 6-4 in an hour and 18 minutes on Center Court. […]
Zheng seizes control to take out Uchijima in Tokyo
A DOMINANT purple patch when 5-4 down in the first set lit the flame of top seed Qinwen Zheng in Tokyo as the Chinese talent won the last nine games of the match against local hope Moyuka Uchijima to reach the Pan Pacific Open quarter finals. Uchijima took it up to Zheng early, was no […]
Bia’s back allows Bibi boost into Tokyo quarters
THERE was a sense of empathy coming from one side of the net to the other when injury-prone Bianca Andreescu shook hands with second seed Beatriz Haddad Maia after just three games. Haddad Maia suffered a left back injury and had to retire at 0-3 down in the opening set of the pair’s Pan Pacific […]
Katie Boults into Tokyo second round
BRITISH ninth seed Katie Boulter wasted no time in dismissing Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon to race into the Round of 16 at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo overnight. The sole seed in action, and only match that did not contain a local Japanese hope, Boulter needed just 77 minutes to get past Hon 6-1 […]
Turkish qualifier upsets Pole in Tokyo
AN EARLY upset on day one saw Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sonmez take out seventh seed Magdalena Frech to reach the second round of the WTA 500 event in Tokyo. Sonmez – ranked 148th in the world – defeated Frech 1-6 6-4 6-3, coming back from the brink to post the victory in an hour and […]
WTA Tour winners: Lamens storms to maiden title
DUTCH qualifier Suzan Lamens is officially a WTA Tour title winner after defeating fellow qualifier Kimberly Birrell in a comprehensive 72-minute rout at the Japan Open overnight. Lamens had a tournament to remember, with the world number 125 ending up favourite in the final despite being a qualifier, destroying Birrell 6-0 6-4. There was always […]
