Local favorite Zheng, Sabalenka advance into Wuhan Open third round

Zheng Qinwen hits a return during the round of 32 match between Zheng Qinwen of China and Jaqueline Cristian of Romania at the 2024 Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, Oct. 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Hu Jingwen)

Zheng Qinwen secured her spot in the round of 16, which marks her 40th victory of the season on the WTA Tour. The Wimbledon titleholder, Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic was surprisingly beaten by Hailey Baptiste.

WUHAN, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's ace player Zheng Qinwen made an impressive debut at Wuhan Open, beating Romania's Jaqueline Cristian in straight sets with nine aces to secure her spot in the round of 16.

This win marks Zheng's 40th victory of the season on the WTA Tour, making her the first Chinese player since Li Na in 2013 to achieve 40 wins in a single season.

In the first set, both Zheng and Cristian held their serves through the first four games. Zheng then shifted momentum, breaking Cristian's serve and holding her own to extend her lead to 5-2. Zheng closed out the set with a powerful ace on set point.

Cristian showed more resilience in the second set. Zheng had multiple opportunities to break Cristian's serves but initially cannot capitalize. Cristian took advantage of a double fault from Zheng to secure a game, but Zheng quickly broke back and eventually forced Cristian to throw her racket in frustration in the seventh game. Zheng sealed the match with two more aces in the eighth game before wrapping it up 6-4.

"I didn't start the match in my best form, but I felt better as the match progressed. My opponent also played well, and it was a competitive match. I'm really happy to have my first win here in Wuhan this year," said Zheng, who will next face Canada's Leylah Fernandez.

The top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus cruised past Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4.

"It would be really cool to face her [Zheng]. We are going to face in the final, I think she's in the other part of the draw. I really hope I'll be able to get to the finals and put it into a fight," said Sabalenka, the defending champion of Wuhan Open.

Sabalenka will next face Yulia Putintseva, who eliminated Paris Olympics sliver medallist Donna Vekic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round.

The most unexpected defeat came in the match between the Wimbledon titleholder, Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Hailey Baptiste, the lucky loser, with the latter trashing Krejcikova in straight sets.

Unseeded Magdalena Frech of Poland took two hours and seven minutes to down the 6th-seeded Emma Navarro of the United States, achieving her first win over the world's top 10 players in career.

In the other matches, second-seeded Jessica Pegula beat her opponent Anastasia Potapova 6-2 in the first set, while the latter retrieved from the match when trailing down by 0-2 in the second set. Pegula's next opponent will be China's Wang Xinyu. Coco Gauff progressed to the third round with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Viktoriya Tomova. ■