Taiwan’s Liang En-shuo yesterday defeated Croatia’s Jana Fett to win her second-round qualifier to advance to the main draw of the women’s singles at the China Open in Beijing, while former US Open champion Emma Raducanu became the latest high-profile player to withdraw from the WTA 1000 tournament.
Liang handily beat Fett 6-1 in the first set, but the 23-year-old world No. 128 struggled to overpower the world No. 118 Fett 7-6 (7/9) to win the second and grab one of the 12 qualifier spots for the main tournament.
On Monday, Liang downed world No. 13 Sara Errani of Italy 6-1, 6-3 in 56 minutes.
Photo: Liang Wei-ming, Taipei Times
Liang is today to face world No. 53 Diane Parry of France in the first round of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka yesterday said that she wants to cap off a stellar year by returning to the top of the world rankings with a victory at the China Open, with main-draw play to begin today.
The world No. 2 is the top seed at the tournament following the withdrawal of top-ranked Iga Swiatek, the defending champion, because of undisclosed “personal matters.”
Raducanu also stepped down due to a foot injury, while former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and three-times Grand Slam runner-up Ons Jabeur have also decided to skip the Beijing event.
Raducanu has struggled with injuries since capturing the New York title in 2021 and spent most of last season recovering from ankle and wrist surgeries.
The 21-year-old sprained on Monday said she sustained the foot injury on Saturday in her Korea Open quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina.
Fresh from winning the US Open, Sabalenka can take a large step toward overhauling the Pole at the top of the rankings with victory in Beijing.
“Of course that’s one of my goals, to finish the season at world No. 1,” said the Belarusian, who won the Australian Open at the start of the year for a second time.
However, the 26-year-old said her main focus was on her game.
“I’m not trying to focus on that, I’m trying to focus on my game. There is only three tournaments left. I’m just trying to bring my best tennis on court. After the season, I’ll see if it was enough to finish the year at No. 1 or have to improve something else to get to No. 1.”
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