China Open Day 1-2
China Open Men's Singles First Round Monday Sept 29
4-Marin Cilic beat Bai Yan 6-3 6-4
5-Grigor Dimitrov beat Fernando Verdasco 6-1 3-6 6-3
Joao Sousa beat Teymuraz Gabashvili 1-6 7-6(4) 6-4
Vasek Pospisil beat Lukas Rosol 6-4 6-3
Viktor Troicki beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-4
China Open Women's Singles First Round Monday Sept 29
1-Serena Williams beat Silvia Soler Espinosa 7-5 6-2
9-Ana Ivanovic beat Belinda Bencic 6-2 6-1
13-Lucie Safarova beat Camila Giorgi 7-6(3) 6-4
Caroline Garcia beat Zhang Shuai 6-1 6-4
Alize Cornet beat 10-Jelena Jankovic 7-5 3-6 6-4
Peng Shuai beat Zhang Kailin 6-4 6-1
14-Flavia Pennetta beat Christina Mchale 7-6(3) 6-4
Mona Barthel beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 4-6 6-1 6-4
Tsvetana Pironkova beat Maria Kirilenko 6-4 6-1
Cilic Opens in Beijing; Serena Rallies; Cornet Upsets Jankovic; Ivanovic Advance
@cilic_marin Reigning #USOpen2014 champ wins #Beijing opener, def #BaiYan 63 64 #ChinaOpen http://t.co/n0ocknWBcF pic.twitter.com/2EnJKXNKTa
— ITS Tennis News (@itennisschool) September 29, 2014
chinaopen.com.cn: September 29, 2014 Beijing, China - Giving up was never an option even as Serena Williams was down 5-0 in the first set to Silvia Soler-Espinosa. It was that fighting spirit that allowed Williams to win the next eight straight games.
Instead of conserving her energy and attempting to win the second and third sets, Williams fought back, breaking the serve of Spain’s Soler-Espinosa. After that, Williams won the set 7-5, allowing Soler-Espinosa to score only eight points in the rest of the set. From there, Williams was able to hold out for the 7-5, 6-2 win.
Williams pulled out of the Wuhan Open because of a viral illness. Though she had a less than ideal start to her Beijing tournament, the willpower and competitive nature of Williams called her to play in preparation for the WTA final in Singapore. In the second round, Williams will face No. 50 Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. The two have not played before. At the US Open Pironkova was eliminated in the second round while Williams won the event.
Before Monday, the last time Alzie Cornet made it past the first round of the China Open was in 2009. Her opponent, Jelena Jankovic has been to the finals of the China Open three times, winning in 2008 and finishing second in 2013. Cornet is no stranger to upsets. The French woman has defeated No. 1 ranked Serena Williams three times this year and Agnieszka Radwanska once.
So when No. 11 Jankovic stepped onto Moon Court against No. 20 Cornet, she was automatically a target for another upset. Add another upset to Cornet’s year: she defeated Jankovic 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
No. 9 ranked Ana Ivanovic was on upset alert against the No. 34 ranked Belinda Bencic going into their first round match. Ivanovic lost in the opening round of the Wuhan Open to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova due to a thigh injury and last month her 17-year-old opponent had beat No. 10 Angelique Kerber and No. 11 Jelena Jankovic to reach the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open. Her thigh, covered in a long piece of pink tape, seemed to be no issue as she defeated Bencic 6-2, 6-1.
In Men’s Singles, it was a strong showing for qualifier Bai Yan, but the lone Chinese player, ranked 462, fell short against the defending US Open Champion, Marin Cilic who defeated Yan, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the China Open.
The fourth-seeded Cilic now moves on to face either Joao Sousa who overcame a slow start to beat qualifier Teymuraz Gabashvili 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 in just over two hours.
World No.1 @serenawilliams rallies past #SolerEspinsa 75 62 after 0-5 start in
#ChinaOpen http://t.co/n0ocknWBcF pic.twitter.com/8M62LqDqe4
— ITS Tennis News (@itennisschool) September 29, 2014
Day One
Halep, Sharapova Win in Beijing Openers; Stosur Ousts Schiavone, Venus into R2
@ChinaOpen @MariaSharapova back to winning ways in #WTA #Beijing, def #KaiaKanepi
64 61 Sunday http://t.co/n0ocknWBcF pic.twitter.com/1boHbrWl10
— ITS Tennis News (@itennisschool) September 29, 2014
wtatennis.com: September 28, 2014 Beijing, China - World No.2 Simona Halep put her recent difficulties behind her to post an impressive 6-1, 6-4 win over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the opening round of the China Open.
Beijing is Halep's last scheduled tournament before the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global and, judging by her lighting fast start against Zahlavova Strycova, she could be running back into form at just the right time.
Also advancing in Halep's quarter was No.15 seed Andrea Petkovic, who was given an almighty scare against qualifier Monica Niculescu. Petkovic eventually triumphed, 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-4, but only after saving three match points in the second set tie-break and then recovering from 3-1 down in the decider.
In the day's opening match on Lotus Court, No.12 seed Ekaterina Makarova battled for over two and a half hours to see off Garbiñe Muguruza. Muguruza had her chances, notably when she led by a break in the final set, and could not conceal her disappointment when she sent a forehand long to slip to a 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-4 defeat.
Elsewhere, No.7 seed Angelique Kerber kept her slim hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals alive with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over Casey Dellacqua, while Sara Errani's were ended once and for all with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Kurumi Nara.
Other notable first round winners included Maria Sharapova, who bounced back from a shock early exit in Wuhan to defeat Kaia Kanepi, 6-4, 6-1, Venus Williams, a 6-3, 6-1 victor over Heather Watson, and Samantha Stosur, who overcame Francesca Schiavone, 6-4, 6-2.
China Open Women's Singles First Round Sunday Sept 28
2-Simona Halep beat Barbora Strycova 6-1 6-4
4-Maria Sharapova beat Kaia Kanepi 6-4 6-1
7-Angelique Kerber beat Casey Dellacqua 6-1 3-6 6-3
16-Venus Williams beat Heather Watson 6-3 6-1
12-Ekaterina Makarova beat Garbine Muguruza Blanco 6-7(8) 6-4 6-4
Kurumi Nara beat 11-Sara Errani 3-6 6-3 6-4
15-Andrea Petkovic beat Monica Niculescu 2-6 7-6(8) 6-4
Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 1-1 ret.
Polona Hercog beat Karolina Pliskova 6-4 2-6 6-2
Roberta Vinci beat Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2 2-6 6-1
Samantha Stosur beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-2
China Open Women’sSingles First Round Saturday Sept 27
Sabine Lisicki beat Shilin Xu 4-6 6-2 6-0
5-Agnieszka Radwanska beat Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-3
Madison Keys beat Alison Riske 6-3, 6-7(3) 7-5
Lin Zhu beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 3-3 ret.
Zarina Diyas beat Klara Zakopalova 6-1, 6-4
Carla Suarez Navarro beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-4
Romina Oprandi beat Bojana Jovanovski 6-2, 6-4