DAY 4 of the Shenzhen Open saw plenty of key matchups, with four matches in the Round of 16 taking place while the final two matches saw two players proceed to the second round, knocking first seed Belinda Bencic out in the process. Meanwhile, China did not have a good day, with four players sent packing while two players from Kazakhstan proved they can take it to the next level.

Finishing off the Round of 32 with a bang were Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) and Anna Blinkova (Russia), with the duo defeating their respective opposition. Diyas knocked out Duan Yingying (China) in straight sets, claiming a solid win on her way to yet another matchup tomorrow. Blinkova may have lost the first set to first seed Belinda Bencic, but she refused to let it get in her way against the highly touted player, eventually coming out on top in the 6-3 3-6 3-6 battle and sending Bencic home in ultimately the best match of her career so far.

Kristyna Pliskova reigned supreme once more, collecting an impressive win against second seed Aryna Sabalenka. Pliskova hit 16 aces on her way to victory, plying her trade across the court and putting Sabalenka under a mountain of pressure in the straight sets win, 6-4 6-4. Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko collected an impressive victory over China’s Zhang Shuai, going to a tie-break at the end of the first set before dominating the second.

Third seed Belgian, Elise Mertens was one of two seeded players to continue through to the next round. Mertens continued her winning form with a victory over spirited Chinese wildcard, Wang Xiyu in straight sets, 4-6 3-6. Proceeding with Mertens is Kazakh, Elena Rybakina, who defeated China’s Wang Yafan in similar fashion.