Top seeds Ash Barty and Naomi Osaka yesterday cruised into the last 16 of the China Open with straight-set victories in their second-round matches in Beijing.
World No. 1 Barty, who received a bye into the second round, started her campaign with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, wrapping up the contest in 75 minutes.
Barty fired seven aces, converted four of nine break points and smashed 23 winners in a clinical display that she said was enough to get the job done.
Photo: AFP
“It was solid today without being fantastic,” Barty said. “It was what we needed to do today. There were times where it was pretty good and there were times where it was challenging. It’s a court that I think is tough to neutralize and play defense over a long period. It’s definitely a court that you get a bang for your buck and you get value when you try to take the initiative.”
Japan’s Osaka, seeded fourth, needed only 59 minutes to brush aside German qualifier Andrea Petkovic with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win.
Osaka converted five break points and fired 21 winners in a one-sided contest to set up a clash with the US’ Alison Riske, who beat Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the only three-set match of the day.
Angelique Kerber’s poor form dragged on after another early exit at the hands of Slovenia’s Polona Hercog who won 6-4, 6-2.
Apart from a semi-final run in Osaka, 10th seed Kerber has not moved past the second round of tournaments in Zhengzhou, Wuhan and now Beijing.
China’s Zheng Saisai converted five of six break points to beat former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-1 in 76 minutes to set up a last-16 clash with Barty.
The Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova beat France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-4.
However, 12th seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who won the Wuhan Open title over the weekend was knocked out by Russia’s unseeded Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 7-6 (5).
MEN’S SINGLES
Andy Murray yesterday showed all the grit and determination that took him to the top of the world rankings and more recently helped him return from hip surgery as he overcame Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7) reach the second round of the China Open.
Murray, who last week won his first ATP tour singles encounter in nine months at Zhuhai, China, after hip resurfacing surgery, saved five out of seven break points and converted two of his own to down the US Open semi-finalist in a little over two hours.
The 32-year-old, ranked 503rd in the world, is stepping up his singles comeback in the Asian swing of the ATP Tour and next faces fellow Briton Cameron Norrie.
Norrie advanced after his opponent Cristian Garin retired from their clash with the score at 7-6 (5), 1-0 on Monday.
Gael Monfils followed eighth seed Berrettini out of the tournament after the Frenchman was beaten 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 by unseeded John Isner of the US.
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime later swatted aside Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 6-4 to set up a match with world No. 6 Alexander Zverev.
TOKYO OPEN
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic yesterday blasted past qualifier Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round of the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo.
Playing in his first singles match since retiring from his US Open fourth-round match with Stan Wawrinka due to a left shoulder issue, the Serb showed that he was fighting fit as he fired seven aces and won 84 percent of his points on the first serve.
Djokovic — in his 271st week at No. 1, having passed Ivan Lendl for third place in the all-time list — next faces local favorite Go Soeda.
Japanese wildcard Taro Daniel stunned second seed Borna Coric 6-4 4-6 7-6(5), while compatriot Yasutaka Uchiyama took down French fourth seed Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-2.
Seventh seed Taylor Fritz fell 6-3, 6-4 to fellow American Reilly Opelka, while Radu Albot and Gilles Simon advanced.
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