Lu Yen-hsun advanced to the second round of the ATP Tour’s Chengdu Open yesterday, while fellow Taiwanese Chuang Chia-jung successfully negotiated the first round of the doubles at the WTA Tour’s Wuhan Open.
Taiwanese No. 1 Lu took 75 minutes to oust Czech veteran Radek Stepanek in Chengdu.
The world No. 63 did not face a single break point, while converting two of four to complete a 6-3, 6-4 victory and set up a second-round clash with either fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain or German qualifier Michael Berrer.
Photo: Reuters
Also advancing to the second round was world No. 101 Karen Khachanov of Russia, who stunned Portuguese seventh seed Joao Sousa 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in 77 minutes.
Khachanov was joined in the second round by Dusan Lajovic, Adrian Mannarino and Kevin Anderson.
In Wuhan, Chuang and Kateryna Bondarenko defeated Chinese duo Liang Chen and Yang Zhaoxuan 6-4, 7-5 in 82 minutes to advance the second round of the doubles.
The Taiwanese-Ukrainian duo saved three of seven break points and converted six of 19, winning 68 of the 127 points contested to set up a meeting with seventh-seeded Czech pairing Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.
Second-seeded Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan, who received a bye in the first round, face a second-round match against Slovenian duo Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik.
In the second round of the singles, Angelique Kerber survived a scare in her first match as world No. 1 before beating Kristina Mladenovic in three sets.
The US and Australian Open champion made a convincing start before missing two set points and allowing Mladenovic to take the first set in a tiebreak, but Germany’s Kerber then swept through the rest of the match, winning 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-4, to set up a third-round meeting with two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
“I was trying to find my rhythm because I was not playing my best in the first set,” Kerber said.
Kvitova said she would be trying not to think about Kerber’s new status as world No. 1 when they play today.
“[It] will be for the first time... that I will play her as a No. 1, which is a little bit different, but I think if I’m on the court, I don’t really think about that,” Kvitova told reporters.
World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska also romped into the third round, as last year’s US Open finalist Roberta Vinci became the tournament’s first seeded casualty.
One-time Wimbledon runner-up Radwanska won 6-4, 6-1 against Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.
Italy’s Vinci, ranked 15, was ousted by Yaroslava Shvedova 7-5, 6-2 — her second defeat to the Kazakh this year.
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