Daria Kasatkina stunned number 2 seed Simona Halep 6-2 6-1 in the second round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open to clinch her third career win against top-5 players. Earlier this year the 20-year-old player had already beaten former world number 1 Angelique Kerber twice.
“It’s always difficult to play against Simona. The game was much more difficult than the score looks. I played a good game. I prepared for this match well. The last two games we played, I didn’t know what I was trying to do. I put too many tactics into my head. I went on court and told myself just to play how you feel, and it worked”, said Kasatkina.
Halep broke serve in the first game but failed to hold her serve in the whole first set allowing Kasatkina to win five consecutive games. Halep saved three set points on Kasatkina’s serve in the seventh game of the first set before getting the break. Kasatkina got another break to seal the first set 6-2.
Halep managed to hold her serve at deuce in the opening game of the second set. Kasatkina got the break in the fourth game with a forehand down the line. The Russian player went up a double break in the sixth game and served out to 15 with a forehand winer to secure her spot in the next round where she will face Ekaterina Makarova. Kasatkina scored her first win in her three head-to-head matches against Halep.
The Romanian player, who was playing her first match since losing to Maria Sharapova in the first round at the US Open, made 20 unforced errors off her backhand.
“I didn’t play for a month. It’s tough to come back and to play matches. It was tough to get the rhythm of the big points quickly in a few games”, said Halep.
Greek twenty-year qualifier Maria Sakkari clinched the biggest win of her title after beating Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets 7-5 6-3 in just her second-ever Premier level main draw of her career. Sakkari earned an early break early in the opening set. Wozniacki, who won her first title of the season in Tokyo last week, broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4 and earned a set point on Sakkari’s serve in the next game. The Greek player got the break to love with a backhand passing shot in the 11th game and served out for the first set. After a trade of breaks, Sakkari reeled off the final three games thanks to two consecutive breaks to clinch her first WTA top-10 win after one hour and 33 minutes setting up a third round match against Elina Vesnina, who beat Elise Mertens 6-2 6-4.
Olympic champion Monica Puig fought back from one set down to beat Shuai Peng 4-6 6-3 6-4. After a trade of breaks in the first two games, Peng got two consecutive breaks to open up a 4-1 lead. Puig got both breaks back to draw level to 4-4. Peng converted her second break point chance in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and served out for the first set at deuce. Puig went up a double break to race out to a 4-0 lead. Peng got both breaks back in the fifth and seventh games for 3-4. Peng broke again in the eighth game and served out for the second set in the next game. Both players traded breaks in the opening games of the decisive set. The next four games went on serve before Puig earned the crucial break in the seventh game. The player from Puerto Rico never looked back and secured her spot in the next match.
Number 7 seed Dominika Cibulkova beat Jil Teichmann 6-2 6-2. This year’s Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko came back from one set down to beat Barbora Strykova 2-6 7-5 6-3. Ostapenko, who won her second tournament in Seoul last week, rallied from 1-3 down with a break-back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. The Latvian player broke serve in the 10th game to seal the second set 7-5. Ostapenko went up a double break to take the decisive set 6-3.
