WUHAN, October 9, 2024 (Press Release)
Hometown favourite Qinwen Zheng sent thousands of Wuhanese fans home happy after securing a second round win on Wednesday at the DONGFENG VOYAH · WUHAN OPEN 2024.
Olympic gold medallist Zheng, seeded fifth at the final WTA 1000 tournament of the season, beat wildcard Jaqueline Cristian 62 64 in front of a packed center court crowd at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center. Zheng now has a potentially difficult meeting with former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez after the Canadian beat Kamila Rakhimova.
WIN NUMBER 40 #WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/ATO0roH0BQ
— wta (@WTA) October 9, 2024
2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff kept her winning streak alive by following up on last week’s triumph at the China Open in Beijing with a 61 62 second round victory over Viktorija Tomova in Wuhan.
Gauff, seeded fourth in Wuhan, plays 13th seed Marta Kostyuk on Thursday. Kostyuk progressed via a walkover after Amanda Anisimova withdrew with a left hip injury. Second seed Jessica Pegula also progressed through a retirement, when Anastasia Potapova succumbed to a right ankle injury in the first set. Pegula will now play Xinyu Wang, who delighted her home crowd with a win over Lucia Bronzetti.
“I think I just love to compete and I love to win. It’s one of those things when you step out, you’re going to try your best,” said Gauff. “I have zero expectations this week, so it’s kind of one of those rare opportunities where there’s no pressure. Every match you’re just happy to get through, honestly.”
Gauff is hoping to walk in the footsteps of one of her idols, Venus Williams, this week. Williams won the title here in 2015, the only American to lift the trophy in Wuhan. “I saw that Venus won. I was walking on the Walk of Fame here,” said the 20-year-old American. “I didn’t realize she was 35 when she won that title. It’s pretty impressive. Both of them (Venus and Serena) I admire so much. To do anything in the same sentence as them means a lot to me.”
Daria Kasatkina, seeded eight, also progressed in Gauff’s section of the draw and plays Magda Linette on Thursday.
At the top of the draw two-time Wuhan Open champion Aryna Sabalenka kept up her remarkable record of never having lost a match at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center. Sabalenka proved too strong for Ekaterina Siniakova, beating the experienced Czech 64 64 to earn a third round meeting with Yulia Putintseva, conqueror of 15th seed Donna Vekic.
“I’m happy with the win, of course. Happy to be back in Wuhan. Especially (against) Siniakova, who is fighting for every point, it’s really good that I was able to finish this match in two sets. Just happy to get through this round,” said Sabalenka.
American qualifier Hailey Baptiste scored one of the biggest wins of her career by upsetting Wimbledon champion and Wuhan’s seventh seed Barbora Krejickova with a confident 63 75 victory. Baptiste will face tenth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova next.
Poland’s Magdalena Frech, ranked 27, continued her strong recent form with a 64 36 63 win over sixth seed Emma Navarro and will now play ninth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
Erika Andreeva knocked her younger but higher ranked sister Mirra Andreeva out of the tournament with a 63 61 win. Erika Andreeva came through qualifying and is now through to play two-time Grand Slam runner-up Jasmine Paolini in the round of sixteen. Paolini beat Yue Yuan 64 63 in the final match of the evening.
Click here for Draws, Results and Order of Play
