LINZ, November 10, 2021
The top two seeds of the Upper Austria Linz were in second-round action on “Super-Tuesday”, however, with different outcomes.
Reigning US Open champion and No. 1 seed Emma Raducanu lost to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu 6-1, 6-7(0), 7-5. Wang hit 32 winners, playing an aggressive style from the baseline.
World No. 20 Raducanu was hampered by an upper thigh injury towards the end of the match but showed some great fighting spirit. The walking wounded 18-year-old from Great Britain saved two match points in the 10th game of the final set, but Wang gained another break and closed out the biggest victory of her career after two hours and 36 minutes.
Biggest win of her career 👏
🇨🇳 Wang Xinyu holds off a Raducanu comeback to advance to the #WTALinz quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/VsuFYa5Gu0
— wta (@WTA) November 9, 2021
“I am super happy,” World No. 106 Wang told tournament ambassador Barbara Schett during her on-court interview. “I think we both played a great match today. I wish Emma a speedy recovery, as I saw that she had an injury. The crowd today was amazing. I really felt the passion here. It is my first time here. I am really excited, and I really enjoy playing this tournament.”
Following her first Top 50-win, Wang will oppose Alison Riske in the quarterfinals. The No. 8 seed from the United States defeated Alize Cornet of France 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 53 minutes.
Raducanu’s exit in Linz brings down the curtain to her breakthrough season. The teenager will now prepare for the Australian Open in January.
Halep exacts revenge on Sasnovich
Earlier in the day, Simona Halep began her title bid with a 7-5, 6-3 second-round win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, who had defeated the Romanian in the third round of Indian Wells one month ago.
On Centre Court of the TipsArena, Halep was the dominant player in the decisive moments of the match. The No. 2 seed capitalized on all of her four break-point chances to prevail after one hour and 38 minutes.
Sweet revenge 😼
🇷🇴 @Simona_Halep reverses the Indian Wells result against Sasnovich and is through to the quarterfinals in Linz!#WTALinz pic.twitter.com/JMnUnJoxzF
— wta (@WTA) November 9, 2021
“I played much better than in Indian Wells with more confidence,” said Halep. “I think she changed a little bit her game. She played a bit more faster and flatter, and it was really tough to return those balls. The ball didn’t bounce that much so the rhythm changed. I think I stepped a little back and became defensive. But in the big picture, it was a good match.”
In her last tournament of the season, Halep is trying to preserve her streak of winning at least one WTA trophy every year since 2013. The World No. 22 will next take on seventh-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini, who fought past Zheng Saisai of China, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. The encounter lasted one hour and 38 minutes.
Collins, Kudermetova advance
In other action, third-seeded US-American Danielle Collins eased past Greet Minnen of Belgium 6-3, 6-3 and will next face Belgian Alison van Uytvanck, who beat Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko 6-0, 6-3.
Romanian lucky loser Jaqueline Cristian benefited from the retirement of Rebecca Peterson of Sweden leading 5-2 in the first set and will play No. 4 seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, who edged out Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
