(Photo credit score: Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Images)
No. 3 seed Coco Gauff breezed to a 6-1, 6-0 win in 51 minutes in opposition to Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in her opening match Wednesday on the Wuhan Open in China.
Gauff drilled 5 aces, received 89 % (25 of 28) of the factors on her first serve and transformed 5 of eight break probabilities. Uchijima held serve within the fourth sport of the opening set to keep away from the double bagel.
‘Today was match for me,’ Gauff mentioned in her on-court interview. ‘I performed effectively, so yeah, I’m simply tremendous completely happy to be again right here in Wuhan and shifting on to the following spherical.’
Gauff’s third-round opponent on the WTA 1000 event might be residence favourite Shuai Zhang of China, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 winner in opposition to Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.
Aryna Sabalenka, the top-seeded three-time champion, needed to rally to stay excellent in Wuhan with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win in opposition to Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova.
Sabalenka’s 18-0 file within the event marks the longest such streak at any occasion since Caroline Wozniacki received her first 20 matches at New Haven with three titles between 2008 and 2012.
After her first-set stumble, Sabalenka by no means trailed within the subsequent two units. She saved 10 of 12 break factors in a match that lasted slightly below two hours.
‘I’ve to say she performed unimaginable tennis, particularly within the first set,’ Sabalenka mentioned of Sramkova. ‘Not a lot I might do. I knew that after that little break (for the reason that U.S. Open) it might not be simple to get again in my rhythm, however I’m actually glad that within the second set I discovered my sport, I stepped in and I believe I performed actually nice.’
Up subsequent for the World No. 1 is a third-round tilt with No. 16 seed Liudmila Samsonova. The Russian additionally rallied from a set down, defeating Sofia Kenin 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in a single hour and 56 minutes.
Sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula additionally labored extra time within the second spherical, outlasting fellow American Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) in two hours and 55 minutes. Baptiste saved six match factors earlier than succumbing on No. 7
‘I’m actually happy with myself for the way I held it collectively, as a result of I believe I simply might’ve simply collapsed. But I held robust, so yeah, that was a wild experience,’ Pegula mentioned.
Pegula will meet No. 9 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia after her 7-6 (5), 6-2 defeat of Ann Li.
No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy edged China’s Yue Yuan 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. No. 10 Clara Tauson of Denmark beat Antonia Ruzic of Croatia 6-4, 6-0. Czech Linda Noskova ousted No. 11 Naomi Osaka of Japan 7-6 (2), 6-3. Poland’s Magdalena Frech was main 7-6 (1), 4-1 when Twelfth-seeded Czech Karolina Muchova retired.
Also advancing have been No. 8 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 13 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, American Iva Jovic and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.
–Field Level Media