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China's Wang makes into women's singles second round at China Open

Xinhua, October 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

China's Wang Qiang, world's No. 110, played to the joy of home crowds with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over left-handed Varvara Lepchenko in women's singles first round at the China Open here on Saturday.

Wang and Lepchenko had no head-to-head competition before. Wang heated up quicker into the game, as she had a break in the first game. After both players ketp their serves in the next five games, Wang managed for another break in the seventh, and secured the first set 6-2.

After Lepchenko made a strong comeback in the second, Wang finished strong in her serves and hits, and had a spectacular performance for the hosts with a 6-2 victory in the decider.

Former NBA star Stephon Marbury, who had a successful stint with CBA's Beijing Ducks in the past several years, chose sides before the opening match on Saturday night.

Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, the tournament's sixth seed, thrashed Australian Casey Dellacqua 6-4, 6-0 to make into last 32, and booked a second-round encounter with Venus Williams, who claimed the Wuhan Open title on Saturday.

"It's going to be a tough match. She's been playing really well. She's just had tough win in Wuhan. It's going to be a good challenge for me," said Ivanovic.

In women's second-round qualifiers, Chinese player Wang Yafan lost to Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-3, 6-4. No Chinese girls managed to advance into the first round from qualifiers.

According to men's main draw on Saturday, two Chinese wildcard players, Wu Di and Zhang Ze, had different prospect, as the former will meet 14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal, while the latter will face a qualifier and is expected to challenge top seed Novak Djokovic, five-time titleholder in Beijing.

Djokovic will have a comfortable first round with a qualifier. The real challenge is expected to appear for him since the third round, with his potential rival Tommy Robredo or six-seeded John Isner. Nadal has much possibility of facing eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round.

In men's first round qualifers, China's Bai Yan and Zhang Zhizhen beat their respective opponents. The men's first round of China Open will kick off next Monday. Endi