Wuhan, Oct 10 (IANS) China’s Zheng Qinwen could meet top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round of the Wuhan Open after the singles draw was revealed Saturday, while Wang Xiyu and Wang Xinyu were drawn against each other in an all-Chinese first-round match.
Zheng will open against American Ann Li, with Sabalenka awaiting the winner after receiving a first-round bye. Zheng has won just one of their nine previous meetings.
This week, Zheng reached the women’s singles semifinals of the China Open, defeating sixth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 7-6(6).
Playing her first top-10 opponent of the tournament, wildcard Zheng broke serve three times in the opening set. She claimed breaks in the first and seventh games, only to be broken herself while serving for the set at 5-3, before securing her third break in the ninth game to close it out 6-3.
Svitolina raised her level in the second set and broke Zheng in the seventh game to move 4-3 ahead, only for the Chinese to hit back immediately in the eighth. Both players held serve to force a tie-break, where Zheng trailed 0-2 before winning four straight points to lead 4-2. Svitolina drew level at 6-6, but Zheng sealed the win on her second match point at 8-6.
The Wuhan Open is the final WTA 1000 event of the season. Sabalenka and second seed Jessica Pegula were drawn in opposite halves, with Iga Swiatek and Mirra Andreeva also in the field. The top eight seeds received first-round byes, reports Xinhua.
Four of the five Chinese players in the main draw landed in the top half alongside Sabalenka. Wild card Wang Xiyu, the Asian Games champion, leads Wang Xinyu 2-1 in their previous WTA meetings. The winner will next face American Iva Jovic or Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova.
Zhang Shuai, the 37-year-old veteran, will open against ninth seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion.
Guo Hanyu is the only Chinese player in the bottom half and opens against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea. Pegula, who also received a first-round bye, could next meet Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. Italy’s Jasmine Paolini will open against the Czech Republic’s Sara Bejlek, while the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala will face a qualifier.
In qualifying, Chinese wild card Shi Han rallied past top seed Peyton Stearns 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the final round. Yuan Yue lost to Caty McNally of the United States 6-2, 6-3, while Zhu Lin withdrew.
–IANS
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