Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek advances in the Wuhan Open
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WUHAN, China (AP) — Iga Swiatek powered her way to the third round of the WTA’s 1,000-level Wuhan Open on Tuesday with a straight sets win against Marie Bouzkova.
Wimbledon champion Swiatek bounced back impressively after her fourth round exit at the China Open last week, winning 6-1, 6-1 against the Czech opponent.
The victory was the six-time grand slam winner’s 60th this year and the fourth year in a row she has reached that figure.
“Every tournament I go to, I want to play my best game,” said Swiatek. “Sometimes I deliver, sometimes not, but, yeah, my expectation is to just do my best.
“Honestly, I don’t set goals like semifinal or whatever — just really making it step by step.”
No. 2 seed Swiatek will play Belinda Bencic or Elise Mertens in the next round.
Earlier Emma Raducanu retired ill from her first round match.
The British No.1 and former U.S. Open champion had her blood pressure checked and temperature taken in her match against American Ann Li.
Li was winning 6-1 4-1 when Raducanu retired and will play No.9 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round.
Naomi Osaka dropped the first set before rallying to beat Leylah Fernandez 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the second round.
Osaka was back in the central Chinese city for the first time since 2017 and, in the day’s first match on center court, facing the player who produced a major upset to beat her at the 2021 U.S. Open.
Fernandez, who was defeated by Raducanu in the U.S. Open final four years ago, converted one of her two first-set breakpoint chances and served consistently. But Osaka stepped up pressure on the service returns in the second set, which featured five service breaks, and finished over the top of the 2021 U.S. Open finalist.
In other early matches, Sofia Kenin edged Anastasia Zakharova 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to set up a second-round meeting against No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova, who beat Emiliana Arango 6-1, 7-5.
No. 2 Iga Swiatek was scheduled to make her Wuhan tournament debut in a second-round match against Marie Bouzkova in the night session.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3 Coco Gauff were due to open Wednesday. No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, the runner-up at both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon this year, withdrew from the Wuhan Open citing a left calf muscle injury after winning the China Open title.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis