Britain’s Johanna Konta yesterday upset top-seeded Simona Halep of Romania 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.
Konta, who came into the Wuhan tournament 66th in the rankings, stormed back to win the last six games of the third set and is to face Venus Williams in the quarter-finals.
“It was two hours and 17 minutes of very, very tough tennis for me,” Konta said. “Simona really played some unbelievable tennis in parts — she may not be feeling her best — but I’m just really happy I was able to take a few of the chances I created.”
Photo: AFP
Williams and Konta will be facing each other for the first time.
Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and defending champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic joined the list of upsets at the Wuhan Open, both falling in the third round.
The pair’s losses come on the heels of a series of medical problems and injuries at the tournament that have seen Russia’s Maria Sharapova, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka exit as the long season begins to take its toll.
Sharapova announced her withdrawal from next week’s China Open in Beijing, raising questions over whether the five-time Grand Slam winner will manage a comeback this season — injuries have kept her off the court since Wimbledon.
Ivanovic fell to Garbine Muguruza, winning the first set, but only taking one game off the Spanish youngster in the second two.
“I had some chances to come back in the second set, which I didn’t use, and she played well in the big points,” Ivanovic said.
Muguruza, 21, has had a breakout year, joining the ranks of the top 10 for the first time after reaching the Wimbledon finals this year. Muguruza is in the running to make it to the top-eight WTA Finals in Singapore at the end of this month, with the field looking increasingly open after the Wuhan upsets.
“First set, I lost. I was a little bit disappointed. I said, look, I’m going to fight again and see what happens. I found my game again,” Muguruza said.
Kvitova fell to this year’s shock finalist at the US Open, Roberta Vinci of Italy, in two sets. The double Wimbledon champion got off to a strong start, establishing a 4-0 lead over Vinci.
However, the Italian clawed back, taking the first set in a tie-break, and Kvitova struggled in the second — eventually losing on a break of serve.
“I think she’s playing with a lot of confidence right now after such a big win against Serena [Williams], playing the [US Open] final,” Kvitova said of Vinci, who returned to the top 20 after her performance at Flushing Meadows.
The Czech was diagnosed with glandular fever this year, but has continued to compete, and looked tired as she walked off court. She said she would travel to Beijing for next week’s China Open, the final tournament before the season finale in Singapore.
Venus Williams took just two sets to dismiss Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-3, 6-4 — potentially setting her up to meet her sister Serena’s US Open nemesis Vinci in the semi-finals, if they both make it through the quarter-finals.
“I had some luck, because I think she missed a few shots today, and it gave me some openings,” Williams said.
In the doubles, Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan were leading Ukrainian twins Nadiia and Lyudmyla Kichenok 5-4 in the first set when rain interrupted play.
Additional reporting by staff writer
TASHKENT OPEN
Top-seeded Annika Beck of Germany yesterday reached the quarter-finals of the Tashkent Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jana Cepelova of Slovakia.
Both players returned well, with Beck breaking Cepelova’s serve five times and the Slovakian breaking Beck’s serve on three occasions.
Beck’s win sets up a quarter-final with Bojana Jovanovski, who beat Aleksandra Krunic 6-4, 6-3 in an all-Serbian second-round match. Jovanovski won her only previous meeting with Beck 7-5, 6-3 in Hobart, Australia, last year.
Second-seeded Carina Witthoeft of Germany is out after she was beaten 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 by Croatia’s Donna Vekic, whose reward is a quarter-final against another German, Anna-Lena Friedsam.
Fifth-seeded Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic lost 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Kozlova, while sixth-seeded Margarita Gasparyan of Russia was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Friedsam.
Besides Beck, the only other seeded player left in the draw is Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, the fourth seed. She cruised past Uzbekistani wild card Nigina Abduraimova 6-2, 6-2.
Larsson’s quarter-final opponent is Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina, who beat Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
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